FutureHeartsJunkie

Tim Hortons is starting to "reboot plans" on offering a new credit card. The new credit card will be MasterCard and will be powered by Neo Financial - the same people that marketed the Hudson's Bay Rewards MasterCard (unlike the dual-purpose VISA/TimsCard that was offered a decade ago by CIBC).

The drawback is - it's only going to be offered through the means of a smartphone (in terms of managing accounts, etc.).

Further Reading:

https://dailyhive.com/canada/tim-hortons-credit-card

Karl Asenbrener, known as "Twisten" (by his game handle), a eSports player in the eSports team "Team Vitality" - had passed away at the age of 19.

https://www.dexerto.com/valorant/vitality-valorant-pro-twisten-dies-aged-19-2169125/

1 hour ago, GTAmissions1 said:

I have seen the spoofed numbers and just ignore them. If I know I am expecting a call, then I would answer. Especially burner phone numbers are also taking up some of the pool of available phone numbers.

 

This is why I have the Pixel 6 Pro and it offers a feature that allows you to screen calls - with the help of the Google Assistant.

While it has been successful of telling scammers to "shut up", sometimes it can make the legit caller upset. It's like placing speed bumps on the road. 

Also, if you extend the number of rings in your home phone, it will make the call ring longer but at the other end, the caller may be impatient when someone tries to answer the call.

Imagine if you're driving an emergency vehicle and have to go into a emergency and you saw speed bumps along the road. You have to drive slowly through the obstacle which affects the response times.

This also reminds me of this video:

I really wished that the iPhone should offer a feature similar to the one found exclusively in the Pixel line.

Recently, Samsung has unveiled a new feature similar to the Google Assistant called "Bixby Text Call".

On 5/13/2023 at 2:37 AM, GTAmissions1 said:

There is a reason why 10 digit calling exists especially with how people are adding a lot more devices and phone numbers to manage. Both for work purposes and personal purposes. 

 

Burner (disposable) numbers also exist for the same reason. Sadly, when new numbers come online - there's an opportunity that scammers can scam you. 

I had one time in which a scammer spoofed a local number of a business that I don't deal with (some have the same prefix!).

I still have my original phone number from over 10 years ago. Especially since I know people who manages both a direct phone number along with office phone number.

I also have a phone number that dates my childhood days when my calling area was in the 416 area code (it has since changed to 905 back in the early 1990s).

Changing gears, if you're going to stay at a hotel this summer, consider watching this:

The other day, I received a new debit card from Simplii Financial (used to be known as "President's Choice Financial" - powered by CIBC until Loblaws have decided to sortie the partnership with CIBC back in 2017) that has the Interac and Debit MasterCard logos - however the orientation of the debit card looks different.

Instead of doing in a landscape style, it changed to a portrait position. Not sure if "portrait facing" credit/debit cards - are becoming the norm....

41 minutes ago, captaintrolley said:

Although I worked for the municipal government we had vacation weeks that we were encouraged to take.  Then again, there were holidays that we could work and 'bank' them to use in the future. I often did this to pad vacation weeks. The flexibility was nice. I did take my allotted vacation weeks, but I often came in early and stayed late on my own dime and on my own time. Never doing that again.

Depending on which industry you work for (and/or whether it's regulated by the provincally/state or even federally-regulated level), there are many restrictions when it comes to vacation (holiday) days. For example, if someone works in a federally-regulated industry (such as banks/credit unions) and have vacation days from last year (2022), they are advised to use those vacation days by the end of October 2023 alongside with the vacation days for 2023. When 2024 comes, the vacation days for 2023 will expire by the end of October 2023.
 

Many people don't always always take vacations (holidays) - even if their employer is encouraging the worker to take at least one to two weeks off (depending on how long they're been with the company for).

They are many times in which some workers are reluctant to take vacations due to the fact that they're a "key player" in the company - however, the workers definitely deserve a time off, but sometimes their vacation (holiday) can suddenly be interrupted - if they require their attention.

I was listening to a news report the other day in which there was a study that people don't always take time off from work (despite their employer advising (and encouraging) them to do so.

Labor(u)r laws are very different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and industry to industry.

7 hours ago, Ed T. said:

And to clarify, I didn't find anything on Metrolinx's not-terribly-useful Presto pages about the one-concession-fits-all.

Obviously any passes would be identified by agency.

Similarly, I would assume that different agencies might have different criteria for getting a concession fare, and therefore they would be set per agency, rather than globally.

But good to know that I'm covered anywhere I go in Presto-land!

(Pardon for the delay on this, but) Please accept my apology for the initial response I had given to you.

My dad (who's also a senior) has a PRESTO Card himself and has a senior discount configured. 

He used his PRESTO Card in Toronto the other day and tapped on a PRESTO fare validator on a TTC station and the card recognizes as a senior rate.

He initially got the discount configured at a GO Transit station to use on the GO Train. 

Good to know that the senior's discount can be used on any participating PRESTO-equipped system without applying to different transit agencies to get the discount.

1 hour ago, Ed T. said:

I had GO put a discount code on a Presto card. To my surprise, discount also applied to TTC.

I had thought that discount or special fare codes were per agency. Are they universal, so all agencies accept the single one?

The possibility is likely that a either a senior, student or child discount might have been applied - or worse, you could have bought an illicit PRESTO Card from the black market!

That's what I realized....

22 hours ago, CJ. said:

Can you use Apple Pay for PRESTO by any chance?

One of the most demanded features

Currently, there hasn't been any evidence if PRESTO can be added on Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay (just to name a few) - but hopefully there have been no plans yet - so far.

I myself, have a PRESTO Card along with a few credit cards (some of them are configured on Google Pay) to pay for transit (not just for paying transit fares, but loading money onto the PRESTO Card).

Don Daynard, a well known fixture on the Toronto, Canada radio station 98.1 CHFI - had passed away at the age of 88.

I remembered hearing his voice during my childhood days (he also hosts a morning show along with Erin Davis) and it literally kept me entertained!

On 4/15/2023 at 11:29 AM, Ed T. said:

I just rode in the lower level of a 4000-series bilevel car.

Curiously, I could spot no security cameras. The only protuberances were obvious smoke detectors, and they had nothing that would suggest a camera inside them would do anything useful. Yet it's inconceivable that a modern car would not have security cameras. Are they hidden? Or is Metrolinx really turning a blind eye?

Most (if not, all) of the GO Train coaches don't have security cameras but otherwise they have a passenger assistance alarm. 

When someone presses the alarm, the person who's in the cab car spots the alarm and advises the CSA that there's an emergency in the train and says, "Code 10-33 (3x) - assistance is required in coach XXXX" or something like that. From there, the CSA is summoned for help to the coach where the alarm was pressed.

Air Canada is launching their new route from YVR (Vancouver, BC, Canada) to DXB (Dubai, UAE) starting on October 2023.

Further reading:
https://onemileatatime.com/news/air-canada-vancouver-dubai-flight/
https://biv.com/article/2023/04/air-canada-launch-vancouver-dubai-flights-october

Caroline Fawa, known as "Care Failure" - the lead singer for the band "Die Mannequin" had passed away on March 31, 2023 at the age of 36.

2 hours ago, Gil said:

I don't really use the wide PRESTO TVMs so I don't know if these are new features or not.  It appears it takes both cash and credit/debit and can also issue tickets as well as sell PRESTO cards.  Presumably you'd have to load the card after purchasing it, as I doubt the mechanism inside will load it with funds before issuing it.  Is the top part of the TVM advertising space or possibly used for vehicle arrival information if these are rolled out at say LRT or BRT stops?

Sadly, I don't have any answers regarding the "top part of the TVM" - to my knowledge, it is likely for advertising space (but could have the potential for vehicle arrival information). The official answer is - you have to wait until these new TVMs go into full action in the coming months and years ahead.

Mark Russell, an American comedian on the piano had passed away at the age of 90.

He is well known on singing and talking about American politics. 

One of the new PRESTO TVMs (manufacturered by Sigma S.p.A) was recently showcased down at a recent trade show dedicating to "Transport Tickering" (vendors like Sigma, Conduent, INIT, Thales, etc. were present at that trade show in London, UK). The picture supplied is from a Linkedin Page.

Not sure how the new TVMs are different than the ones found on the GO Transit (plus UP Express and to a less extent - the TTC) system .

20 hours ago, GTAmissions1 said:

If you do plan on making the trip via Route 94, make sure to do it during a weekend or holiday. Just make sure you have a mobile device and cellular data. 

A weekend day pass is $10/day. To cover an entire weekend is $15 for two. Three if it is a long weekend.

Especially if you wanted to shop at three different malls (Square One, Yorkdale and Scarborough Town Centre).

That's what my intention will be - travelling on a weekend (like next Saturday - Easter Weekend, rather - when the route will "formally" launch). I haven't been to Yorkdale in recent times (in terms of the high-end stores it has - the last time I went was back in December 2014 and for a brief period in September 2015 while catching the subway to Sheppard West (then known as Downsview) station to catch a TTC bus to Downsview Park due to a concert taking place at the park at that time) but I heard that mall is getting more "upscale" (alongside Square One).

13 hours ago, Coolibop said:

That totally sounded like a gpt response lol.

The issue is that it still will be about 1.5hrs + to get to pearson unless you're really close to the pickering go station and you're timing works out perfectly to match the 94 hourly service. I imagine many will still opt for $50 car transport. That takes half (or more) of the time.

 

With bags etc and the risk of missing a bus that only comes once an hour, I doubt many would use for airport run (but maybe the results will prove me wrong).

There's always the airport limo (or even a ridesharing service like Uber or Lyft) - but it depends on the traffic!

2 hours ago, Shaun said:

It uses the 401 which is unpredictable. I hope it has good recovery times. The 401 really needs HOV lanes. 

There's one time that there were "temporary" HOV lanes on the 401 during the 2015 Pan Pam/Para Pan Am games. By the time the games were finished, they were converted to regular lanes.

I always wanted to go to the Square One Shopping Centre by transit myself (the last time I went to the mall - was with my mom back in 2009!) - it would be a definite excursion for me!

I just wanted to provide some input and opinions about the newly expanded 94 GO Bus route that will serve Square One, Pearson Airport, Yorkdale and the Scarborough Town Centre and Pickering GO Station. My opinions are thoughts are listed below:

The newly expanded 94 GO Bus will definitely enable commuters from the Durham Region - to go to Pearson Aiporrt without having to go through Downtown Toronto to catch the UP Express train (though it still remains an option). It also allows other opportunities for work and leisure (especially on the weekends)!

6 hours ago, GTAmissions1 said:

Route 94 will run every single day including weekends and holidays 24 hours every day on an hourly basis. It is replacing route 34 which operates between Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 and Finch Go which was hourly in some time periods, mostly peak periods and two hours in most time periods. 

I remember seeing the marketing for Route 94 which was intended to connect to the different malls (Scarborough Town Centre, Yorkdale and Square One) when first introduced in September 2020. 

It is a lot of service changes to cover. Especially when some services have been reduced in some corridors while others are getting increased service. All pending ridership and budget/resource availability.

Ah, I get it now! Thanks! It will definitely give the Pickering GO station - a boost in the GO Bus service in recent times. It will also provide an opporunity for passengers to bypass Toronto Union station as they do right now.

I haven't been to the Square One shopping mall in recent times (the last time I visited was back in 2009!) but let's see how this new route 94 GO bus route will be like for the "weekend adventure"!

The other day, I recently tried a new email service called "Tutanota".

I heard that it's one of the most-secured e-mail service (alongside another competitor, Protonmail - in which I have both of them). 

The good thing about Tutanota is that your data doesn't get sold to third parties and the big tech giants won't scrape your meta details for that same reason.

Here's a video about the Tutanota:l e-mail service (excuse for self-promo on this board - and yes, it is considered bad manners):

Lynx has announced plans to offer service to YHM airport for the service to YVR next month:

https://globalnews.ca/news/9572764/airline-lynx-summer-service-hamilton-vancouver/

In the article I had read, it's unclear if the YHM-YVR route will operate as a non-stop service or as a through service via YYC..

A lot of stuff to digest with regards to the GO Transit changes.

If the Route 94 GO bus runs on the weekends, then it would be beneficial! Besides, the ridership for both the GO bus and GO train is increasing steadily.

What really upsets me is that Newcastle will be severed from GO bus service (I don't live in Newcastle but in Ajax).

On 3/2/2023 at 7:43 PM, Gil said:

Until they manage to get weekend service to more of their network, perhaps GO could run some of the routes using Barrie as a hub to Collingwood, Orillia and perhaps Midland?  GO often has weekend-only service in the summer months, which would be ideal for those locations.  Collingwood might be the only one that might be popular enough to run year-round, though getting skis on a GO Train to get to Barrie might be tricky! 

 

It would definitely be a dream - if the Blue Mountain ski resort in Collingwood wins a "bid" to host either the X-Games or even the Dew Tour events!

On 3/2/2023 at 8:06 PM, GTAmissions1 said:

I can understand the fragmentation regarding different systems and how they chose different smart cards to meet their needs and requirements. Especially having to make sure there is enough value loaded and different accounts to manage. 

This is very analogus when you visit from one country to another, you have to buy a travel power converter to convert the electrcity systems voltage to work in the country you're visiting.

QR Code-based ticketing would be a stop-gap solution, however - not everyone carries a smartphone.

2 hours ago, Shaun said:

 

Also for the GO train you could take seats out and build Ski racks on the lower level. If you can do it with bikes you can do it with skiis.

Not only for skis, but also a place to stow your snowboard too!