FutureHeartsJunkie
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Posts posted by FutureHeartsJunkie
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1 hour ago, littlewill1166 said:
Reminds me when Simplii Financial (a digital bank owned by CIBC) rebranded to the new colours (for it's physical debit and credit cards), the old branding remains.
Lucky for me, I have a few "spare" PRESTO Cards in my drawer (all unregistered).
I was wondering if I should register one of my (spare, unregistered) PRESTO Cards to my PRESTO account as a "prerequisite" on adding to my Google Wallet....
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55 minutes ago, GTAmissions1 said:
Via Reddit: Presto on Google Wallet available November 14th. With other platforms coming soon.
Final comments:
It does save the hassle of trying to obtain a replacement physical card or finding it especially with the cost of replacement cards and the transfer process.
What remains to be seen - is what PRESTO Card design will be when I added my physical card towards my Pixel 6 Pro (yes, it runs on Android)...
I have the Ottawa variant of the PRESTO Card and my concern is that the design will be different when I add the card to my mobile wallet ..
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One of my favourite teams in the Overwatch League (an E-Sports league dedicated to the video game Overwatch) - has made an exit from the league: the Toronto Defiant.
The owners who owned the team (Overactive Media) has decided to make a sortie and collect a $6 Million USD ($8.25 Million CDN, €5.6 Million EUR) payout from Activision Blizzard, the publishers of Overwatch (which was since acquired by Microsoft).
This is not the first time the Toronto Defiant has made a sortie from the Overwatch League. Another Overwatch League team, the Chengdu Hunters (based in China) has been disbanded earlier this year.
Back to my topic about OWL (Overwatch League), the only Canadian team that remains in the league is - the Vancouver Titans (only time will tell if that team will leave OWL). I went to the OWL Playoffs and Grand Finals in Toronto, Canada a couple weeks ago (it was held down at the venue where Maple Leaf Gardens used to be - though the building is now owned by Ryerson - ahem, Toronto Metro University) and it was a great experience to see some of the OWL teams that qualify to participate play in front of the crowds (sadly, the host team - the Defiant didn't get their opportunity to play).
With the recent announcements, the future remains uncertain about the proposed E-Sports stadium down at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada. The city also has another E-Sports team, called the Toronto Ultra (a team in the "Call of Duty League" and the only CDL team in Canada).
Making a diversion (pun intended), Icelandair is returning service to YHZ (Halifax Stanfield International Airport) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada starting in May 2024. I don't recall when the airline based in Iceland first made its debut in Halifax, Canada, but currently - the airline serves YVR (Vancouver International Airport) and YYZ (Toronto Pearson). At one point, Icelandair used to fly to YEG (Edmonton) and YUL (Montreal Trudeau)...
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On 10/25/2023 at 7:56 AM, York Transit said:
Very off-topic but the person im trying to reach probably reads this thread.
I was in the audience in Los Angeles for a Price Is Right taping and I just happened to be randomly assigned to sit near an American and Canadian transit enthusiast that frequent CPTDB. The world is small, like really small. I was how the hell is someone asking me about Miway in Los Angeles right now? I didn't even know people outside of Mississauga knew what Miway was, it's such a silly name LOL.
Not only that, one of them gets picked as the last contestant to come down, somehow wins, then rolls a 1.00 on the wheel AND wins the $50000 showcase.
You were whisked away so fast by production to sign papers. I just want to say congrats man. Your lucky streak was INSANE to watch and a fellow transport enthusiast from CPTDB to boot was so exciting in person to watch:)!!! I know you have to stay quiet til the episode airs.
What does this post has to do with Westjet?
Anyhoo, on another note - Westjet is launching a new service from YVR (Vancouver, BC, Canada) to DTW (Detroit Wayne County Airport) in Detroit, Michigan USA starting on April 28, 2024.
Currently, Detroit-bound passengers have to fly to YYZ (Toronto Pearson) and connect with Delta Airlines at that airport for their flight back to that city - sometimes, they have to take a bus/shuttle (or have some Vancouver, B.C.-area friends/relatives drive) to SeaTac Airport (SEA) in Washington State, USA which resulted in longer travel times.
Hopefully, the new direct service will make life easier to/from the Motor City.
Further reading: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-to-detroit-flights-westjet -
Air Canada will be launching flights (on a seasonal basis) to Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) from Toronto Pearson (YYZ) and Montreal Trudeau (YUL) starting in June 2024.
The service will be twice-weekly (two times a week) from Toronto while the service from Montreal will be offering the service thrice-weekly (three times a week).
Not sure why Air Canada wanted to launch service to this Swedish Capital but this is likely in anticipation of Scandinavian Airlines - to make a grand departure (pun intended) from the Star Alliance airline alliance (in which both Air Canada and Scandinavian Airlines are the founding members) in favour of joining Skyteam (in which Air France and KLM are members of).
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On 11/2/2023 at 6:56 PM, blue.bird.fan said:
The on-demand service does run at most times of the day when scheduled buses are not operating. Are you talking about the peak period GO connections?
Not those, but those that has outside rush hour GO connections (something in the same nature like Uber or Lyft).
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On 10/30/2023 at 11:28 PM, G.A said:
Almost 5 years old. All built in 2019. Hopefully these do get a second life. Thought they would be sold off to Voyago.
I haven't followed up about the OnDemand service in almost a while but surprising...
On 10/30/2023 at 11:00 PM, blue.bird.fan said:Durham Region Transit 5103-5105 have also appeared for sale on GovDeals.
Is the region transitioning to having Voyago purchase and maintain the whole Specialized and On-demand fleet? The three minibuses up for grabs right now are all 2020 models, which is not that old even for a minibus.
The fleet looked decent but it's hard to explain why they're being sold off at a younger age...
Anyhoo, I really wished that DRT should expand their OnDemand service - to run all the time (not just during peak/rush hours)...just my thought..
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(VIEWER ADVISORY: The views expressed on this post below may not suitable for young people.)
Some food for thought at this hour: a lot of Ontario-centric online gaming casino ads on TV (and to the less extent, radio) have been aired outside of Ontario (but within Canada) despite the fact that the online casino sites are not available outside of Ontario (not even outside of the province and outside of the country).
I heard somewhere that online gaming ads will be banned from airing on TV and on the radio starting in the new year (2024).
From what I remembered, this measure prevents young people from getting hooked on a celebrity endorsement promoting the product not destined for young people.
Reminds me about a PSA that had aired a while back something about the dangers of "edibles" (at first, I thought it was a Sour Patch Kids commercial):
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(Not necessarily a celebrity, but)
Ryan Smolkin, the founder of "Smoke's Poutinerie" had passed away at the age of 50.
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After several attempts on following up with the health authorities (and provided me the same answer), it appears that I'm eligible to get vaccinated for the 6th dose for the COVID-19 shot (plus the updated vaccine)
At the same time, bookings for the influenza are also available (although they're not always available at some places organized by the local health authorities).
While you folks appreciate your sentiments and your nay-sayers, it's been a long journey for me (in fact, I'm not the only person who followed up for that reason)!
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THe other day, one of my local community newspapers - had stopped delivering to my house. Until recently, it used to feature some store flyers and other stuff. I found that my local newspaper - had ceased print publication.
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Just now, 81-717 said:
Today I got an email claiming "3 repositories in your GitHub account might be affected by a security vulnerability found in [repository that I cloned]". I wonder if that's also a phishing attempt.
In any case, always treat it as a phishing attempt regardless.
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Lately, I've been using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) not only for my smartphone (whenever I connect to a public wifi), but on my home laptop (even while at home). What's more interesting, I can even connect to a VPN server of another city (i.e. I live just outside of Toronto, ON, Canada but I tend to connect to a VPN server - based in Montreal, QC, Canada). It's like you're actually visiting the city while connecting at home!
Another thing about VPNs is that you can also bypass the geographic restrictions - for example, if you want to view a movie/show on a US version of Netflix, you can connect to a VPN of an American-city and boom, you can get access to the library found in the US version of Netflix (or something like that).DISCLAIMER: I do not endorse this practice, but it should be used at your own risk.
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Lately, I've been receiving a lot of "fake emails" claiming that "my account has been reported" or "my device has been infected". To make matters worse, hackers/scammers also modify (or even disguise) an e-mail address claiming to be an actual company!
Just now, I happened to receive an e-mail for that same reason. To make matters worse, it came from (wait for it) an art gallery based in Hamilton, ON, Canada (by looking at the domain suffix). Lucky for me (and as a tech-savvy person), I immediately recognize this as a "phishing attempt".
My takeaway advice: be cognizant (aware) on who sends you the e-mail or be on a lookout for any suspecious attempts.- 1
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On 10/14/2023 at 3:44 AM, GTAmissions1 said:
Especially I haven't bought a physical album in years. The only ones that do sell are the limited edition ones. For me, I am not the kind of person who buys 4 different versions just to get the content from those 4 purchases.
I agree especially since years ago, I used to have a subscription to CBS All Access which included all CSI shows including the spin-offs CSI: Miami and CSI: NY. That series alone is hundreds of episodes that trying to purchase it would cost a lot of money.
Of course, CBS All Access got repackaged to Paramount Plus and eliminated a lot of the content library. Considering how streaming services tend to operate on a loss leader system by offering discounts or incentives to subscribe and pay a monthly fee. Especially with how the payment system is created to compensate writers and actors via residual payments for when their content is used on a platform or syndicated on a television network.
Feels like we have reached the digital age, but there is still people who will always want physical copies and own the media versus relying on a digital marketplace not knowing if it can be taken away at anytime.
Speaking of physical CDs - I remembered the old days of "mail order CD subscriptions" - back in the 1990s. A company called Columbia House was one of the lead players back then (sadly, my parents fought a long battle against the company back then - but at that time, I was a kid and couldn't figure out where to get my music back in childhood days).
Here's one video about the practices back then regarding how Columbia House tried to lure customers for it's promotions:
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On 10/15/2023 at 4:00 PM, captaintrolley said:
Will Arnett???
Pardon for my delay, but yes - that's him!
Anyhoo, remember the Subway Yesway commercials a while back? This is one of them (in English):
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(Decided to jumpstart this thread - but)
What does everyone have to say about the latest TV commercial from Freedom Mobile - regarding their "newly expanded" network?
Sadly, I couldn't remember the name of the guy that was featured in that commercial (reminds me about that teddy bear mascot back in 2016).
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WestJet is temporarily suspending it's Toronto (YYZ) to Montreal (YUL) route at the end of this month (October 2023). The service will resume in April 2024.
Final comments:
Business Travel between Toronto and Montreal (and to a greater extent, Toronto-Ottawa) is one of the busiest (not just for aviation but for railways). This reminds me when there were people who travel not only for business but for pleasure (leisure) as in the case of the recent event for the Overwatch League Playoffs and Grand Finals in Toronto, Canada.
While the (temporary) loss of service between Toronto and Montreal may be upsetting to some, it may force business travellers to travel to YTZ (Billy Bishop Airport) or even (to a lesser extent) YHM (Hamilton JCM Airport).
FYI, JCM = John C. Munro
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Can anyone confirm if AMEX is accepted on OC Transpo (either paying for the transit fare or loading funds on the TVMs)?
When I had read on a post from a user on another website/message board (not-public transit related), he/she got confused whether or not if their AMEX Card is accepted on OC Transpo (the user was taking advantage of a promotion for his AMEX card).
From what I had read on the PRESTO Card website for PRESTO Contactless, it appears that AMEX is accepted on OC Transpo - only for Para Transpo.
The O-Payment system does not accept AMEX. It sounds confusing at first but I hope someone can clarify.
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On 10/4/2023 at 10:55 AM, GTAmissions1 said:
I do recall that the ticket vending machines that were touch based were replaced around Fall 2015 with a few select stations (Finch Go was one of them) and eventually rolled out to all stations utilizing the rapidway version of ticket machines to maintain consistency. Plus be able to process both debit and credit via chip and PIN technology versus just inserting the card and it will accept the payment. Leading to increased credit card fraud since no verification was needed along with capping losses to a minimum.
Most likely the operating system or OS for short would have been upgraded in the process. Sometimes, the ticket vending machines may reboot from time to time for a few minutes to reset or download software updates remotely.
Go Transit is also replacing all of their ticket vending machines with the black ones in phases. Focusing on the areas with higher volumes first before moving across replacing the old ones.
I haven't been rode the YRT in almost a decade a half (the last time I rode the YRT was during my excursion to the Vaughan Mills shopping mall back in the summer of 2009).
From what I recall, YRT was using the old version of the TVMs (similar to what GO has back in the early 2000s - they were later retrofitted for Chip & PIN technology back in the later-half of 2009).
(Excuse myself for being a "historian", but) I also remembered the time that there was a dedicated PRESTO Card Reload machine (the first-generation version) down at the old Bay Concourse at Union Station around 2010 to 2012. I couldn't remember what they look like, but it was removed when the Parkeon TVMs came into service around 2013 (or 2014). The PRESTO Card Reload feature was enabled into service on those Parkeon TVMs around 2014 (or 2015).
With the new Sigma-built TVMs gradually coming into service in the next couple of months (coupled with the increased ridership throughout the network), the new TVMs will be more intuitive and (hopefully) user-friendly.
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2 hours ago, Bus_Medic said:
They’re still prioritizing the booster for at risk individuals in Ontario. Unless you’ve got a pre existing condition, you wait your turn.
Prioritization or not, I will not going to take any chances nor delays. As the old saying goes, I have to be persistent.
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1 hour ago, GTAmissions1 said:
TD definitely held out on Google Pay trying to utilize their in-house option which took a lot more steps, but wanted to control the process along with collecting the interchange fees versus allowing a third-party company collecting a small portion of the interchange fee.
Some customers still holding onto TD out of brand loyalty while others simply switched to other banks that offer Google Pay as an option.
Plus most places are equipped with contactless terminals, so it is very rare to see a physical card used from small transactions to the purchase of groceries. Considering the tap limit was increased to $250 years ago due to COVID-19. I remember when the limit was $50 before it was gradually increased to handle the increasing volume of transactions.
The COVID-19 pandemic had really changed the retail scene. Many businesses have stopped accepting cash (even after the pandemic subsided - to a less extent).
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The other day, I've decided to follow up for the four (and consecutive) time to my health authority regarding the availability of getting my 6th dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (I ain't harassing them, however).
Sadge-ly, I was given the same answer as my last call. They advised me to follow up later this month. I advised them if they had the ability to notify me if the bookings for the 6th dose will be available - but they advised me that they don't do that.
I'm thinking of escalating this - to my local consumers affairs reporter.
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General WTF Moments
in GENERAL
Posted
Lately, I've been receiving a plethora of spam/junk emails claiming to be from legitimate businesses (i.e. Lowe's, Apple, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Harbor Freight, Costco, Delta, etc.).
I've also found out that the "fraudsters" (or "spammers") modify the e-mail header claiming to be a legitimate business. With my tech-savvy knowledge (and yes, I've used a web-based version of my Outlook mail), I was able to determine who and where it's coming from (i.e. source email, etc.). With my findings, I auto-assumed that is a spam attempt (or even a phishing attempt).
My takeaway advice: be cognizant on who and where the email you receive from. The same goes for texts as well.
I began to ponder myself, what is the difference between phishing or s-mishing?