Here's an interesting bit* of Canadian history and woodworking trivia, brought to you by me being enraged at a screw stripping while I was trying to remove it.
Most people are familiar with two types of screws & drivers: the old fashioned slot screw and the cross-shaped Phillips screw.
What if I told you there was a better way?
In 1908, a Canadian inventor named Peter Lymburger Robertson invented a screw with a square hole for the driver. If you've done any woodworking, you're probably familiar with it. This screw/driver design was very popular, as it is self-centering and the driver rarely slips out of the screw.
So why didn't the Robertson screw catch on in the USA? I blame Henry Ford. He initially was the Robertson screws biggest fan, as it was found to remarkably increase production speed. So Ford tried to get Robertson Inc. to give him an exclusive contract. Robertson wasn't interested. In the 1930s, an American inventor, Henry Phillips, created a screw/driver with a cross-shaped slot. Mr. Ford liked this screw because it worked well with powered screwdrivers. I think he also had sour grapes over Robertson rejecting him. At any rate, Ford's adoption of the Phillips screw/driver made it very popular throughout the USA.
If you've ever tried to build Ikea furniture, you probably know the frustration of cheaply-made Phillips screws. If your screwdriver is not the precise size for the screw, it will slip out of that cross repeatedly or just turn helplessly, unable to engage with the screw. In either case, there's a chance of stripping the screwhead. This can also happen when overtightening.
My husband insists on replacing stock Ikea (and other manufacturer's) screws with Robertsons, especially on anything that requires good structural strength or is made from a harder material. Worst case is that the screwdriver bit gets stuck in the screw, but this is easily remedied. With a Phillips screw, if it strips, you're hooped. You have a loose screw or an embedded screw that's never coming out.
tl;dr: I recommend replacing Phillips screws/drivers with Robertson ones, especially if you find your Phillips screws stripping regularly.
OTTAWA — Meta has been lobbying the federal government for new rules to implement age verification at the app store level — which would put the burden on companies like Apple and Google, not individual platforms like Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.
My son is in Ontario on Remembrance Day (our name for Armistice Day in Canada) for the first time and he was shocked it wasn’t a public holiday like it is in B.C.
He was disappointed to be in Ottawa, just a few minutes away from the National War Memorial by metro, but couldn’t attend because he has classes today.
I agree with him. It is very strange that this day, of all days, is not a national day.
So instead he rushed through his class so he could at least get to the small ceremony held on campus.
How sad that there is so little time and space made for it in our largest and most populous province.
Petition **e-6838** 📢 has fewer signatures, but focuses directly on the privacy aspect of Bill C-2, and petitions for withdrawal of the entire bill. (And is clearer & better written.)
Current status: Open from October 1 to October 31, 2025
Canada helped invent modern AI. To stay a leader—and protect our digital sovereignty—we're running a 30-day national sprint to shape a renewed AI strategy.
I am so incredibly annoyed by the stupid "Big Five" #banks in #Canada forcing broken phone or SMS-based #2FA upon everybody. It just plain doesn't work. Let alone the fact that it's insecure compared to standard #TOTP.
I've had at least two different financial institutions try to pull this crap on my parents, and each time, I have to call them to ask to turn off that shite because they're unable to send codes, or the codes they send are always invalid.
Feeling that the govt abandoning #Canada Post is just handing the lucrative delivery business to US corporations. There's no doubt that a transformation is necessary, but the Carney vision is to dismantle it, which will allow the commercial services to enshittify, and that will be bad for Canadian individuals and businesses.
A big question is why there are 6 trucks/day delivering 6 individual packages to each address. Surely we can do better.
So #Carney axed the carbon tax, 'paused' the EV mandate, and is keen to waive reviews of pipeline propsals to get more built faster. Do the #Liberals have a climate policy anymore?
Florida is ending vaccine mandates. What do Canadian travellers need to know? Before you get to the linked article, where CBC News gives you their ideas on what Canadian travellers should know, here's what I say they should know and do, or rather not do. If you value your health, and have an ounce of intelligence, just don't. Travel to Florida, that is. cbc.ca/news/health/florida-vac… #cbc #topstories #news #canada
It's 2025, and Canada is literally on fire. 1 in 4 Canadians can't afford enough food to eat. Housing starts are down, and are projected to continue falling.
What are Carney's priorities? Subsidizing the fossil fuel industry, of course. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Amid his push to strengthen energy and economic ties with Europe, Prime Minister Mark Carney revealed Tuesday that the federal government will imminently be unveiling major new investments in port infrastructure.
Other arrangements could be made for Air Canada customers, this was an unnecessary move by the federal government.
"The Liberals are violating our Charter rights to take job action and give Air Canada exactly what they want -- hours and hours of unpaid labour from underpaid flight attendants, while the company pulls in sky-high profits and extraordinary executive compensation,” said CUPE Air Canada Component president Wesley Lesosky in the release."
Air Canada flight attendants have officially begun their strike after failing to reach a deal with the airline, the Canadian Union of Public Employees announced Saturday morning.
Devin’s headlamp cut through the darkness. At the base of the pine trees lining the narrow green strip beside Notre Dame East Boulevard, he was bent, writing on the white backside of a plastic sheet.
'Mark Carney, who knows more about the climate change than any other prime minister we've ever had, still is talking pipelines and has never stopped talking pipelines. This is moral and economic madness.'
Happy #CanadaDay. I figured, it might be fun to share this #CanadaLand episode where one of the McKenzie brothers explains the role #CanCon played in helping #Canada get a reputation of saying "eh?" David Thomas does a great job explaining the history of #SCTV — funny how culture comes into being. Welcome to the Great White North!
Dan Aykroyd blew in from Ottawa. Andrea Martin came in from Maine and Joe Flaherty came in from Pittsburgh. Paul Schaffer came in from Thunder Bay. Marty Short and Eugene Levy and I came in from Hamilton.
Canadians, pay attention: Bill C-2 is a quiet threat to your privacy and civil liberties.
With so much happening around the world, it’s easy to miss what’s going on in our own backyard. But Bill C-2, now in the House of Commons, deserves your attention.
It lowers the threshold for law enforcement to access your private data—without a warrant. All it takes is "reasonable suspicion."
What kind of data?
* Internet and cellphone metadata
* Your location and activity logs
* Information shared across borders with foreign agencies
All accessed more easily under vague “exigent circumstances”
As a person who’s been accosted based on “reasonable suspicion” due to…. existing, I’m concerned that this bill expands surveillance powers and erodes due process protections that Canadians have long relied on.
I keep seeing arguments like, “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.”
Let me be clear: that’s not how rights work.
Free societies are built on the principle that the law protects the innocent—not that we must prove we have nothing to hide.
If you're concerned (and you should be), reach out to your Member of Parliament. Let them know you oppose C-2 and support real protections for Canadian privacy and civil rights.
On June 3, 2025, the Canadian government tabled Bill C-2, omnibus legislation that, if passed, would introduce a wide array of new federal agency and law enforcement powers, and would significantly reform substantive and due process laws in Canada fo…
Wow. Solid majorities in the Liberals (60%), NDP (69%) & the Bloc (78%) all oppose Mark Carney using #BillC5 to override environmental regulations for fast-tracked projects.
Half still want proper ecological assessments; two-in-five in Quebec demand provincial input June 26, 2025 – The fast track on projects deemed in the national interest is well on the way to being paved.
OTTAWA - More than 300 civil society organizations are calling on the Liberal government to withdraw its new border bill, saying the legislation threatens liberties, refugee and migrant rights and
We didn't avoid falling into the same trap as America, we took a step towards it. Next election you'll also "have" to vote liberal to keep out the conservatives. They'll be told they "have" to vote conservative to end 15 years of liberal rule. This is how FPTP destabilizes democracy, it's now coming straight for #Canada We have to stop treating #ProportionalRepresentation like some back burner issue or we will lose our country.
⚠️ URGENT! please help a #disabled, #queer woman cover groceries, her electric bill, & a bank overdraft. the government refused to pay her usual disability benefits because of her outstanding debts. only $125 CAD now needed!
CALGARY - During an outdoor campaign rally, security rushed a shaken Pierre Poilievre to safety after he was tragically struck by a lone question from a journalist.
As we're voting across the country, remember that the previous Harper CPC gov, and specifically #Poilievre as the relevant Minister, installed a bunch of steps to discourage voting, and remove Elections Canada's impartiality.
That mess was quickly removed with Bill C76 after the #CPC was booted out.
At its meeting on March 27, 2025, the Board of Directors of Radio Amateurs of Canada voted unanimously to cancel RAC’s plans to operate a booth at Hamvention (Dayton) in Xenia, Ohio in May.
“The ‘Freedom Convoy’ was — without question — one of the low points for conservatism in Canada; one of the most divisive & disturbing events in recent Canadian political history. Its goal was to overthrow a legally elected government & Poilievre championed their cause.”
"It backfired on Mr #Poilievre when the convoy squatters, squatted for too long & the rest of #Canada watched in horror as they tormented the innocent citizens of #Ottawa & trashed the city for weeks"
Elbows Up 🇨🇦 This morning, there are no fewer than four ANTI-Carney articles on the front page of the American-owned National Post. As expected, media is working hard to install a Trumpian hellscape in #Canada. Don't let them.
“Yale professors, #TimothySnyder, a historian of totalitarianism and the author of #OnTyranny, and Jason Stanley, a philosopher and the author of How #Fascism Works, move to #Canada” (to positions at the University of Toronto).
“What’s the probability of this kind of scenario? Ten per cent, 5 per cent, or 1 per cent? No one can say for sure. But it’s certainly not zero. And given the existential cost to Canada, we’d be stupid not to take it seriously. In game-theory terms, we need to pursue a strategy of “minimax regret” – to minimize, as best we can, the possibility of worst-case outcomes.”
Cascade Institute Executive Director Thomas Homer-Dixon urges Canada to bolster its defenses against the growing threat of an authoritarian and imperialist U.S. regime.
on the broadcast I was listening to, this news was quickly followed up with Poillievre talking about creating jobs for working people and how he was going for the union vote.
Both of these parties are corporate apologists.
Yet Ontario, the land of the manufacturer, refuses to vote for the left leaning, worker party in the NDP.
