Tag: media

Kids

Toy Weapons For Girls: Too Violent, Or Too Pretty?

Some toy companies have recently introduced new lines of toy weapons designed especially for girls.

While the toys are a hit with girls, some adults object to them. Some people say the toys encourage violence and aggression among girls. Others say they are too feminine, and promote old-fashioned stereotypes.

Last fall, Nerf introduced its Rebelle line, which includes bows and guns that shoot foam darts or spray water. The weapons have names like the Heartbreaker Bow Blaster and the Pink Crush Blaster gun. They are brightly coloured in mostly pinks and purples.

News Technology

Tony Hawk “Hoverboard” Video A Hoax

Sometimes, things on the Internet seem too good to be true.

That’s when people may start to challenge them, asking questions to figure out what’s real and what’s made up.

That is what happened when a video showing people riding a “hoverboard” recently went viral.

The video was posted on a website by a “company” called HUVr Tech.

News Technology

Word Of The Year: Selfie

“Selfie” has been named the word of the year.

Oxford Dictionaries chose the word because its usage increased by 17,000 per cent over last year.

A “selfie” is a photo that a person takes of himself, usually with his smart phone.

Have you ever seen a picture of a person that he took by holding his phone out in front of him? That’s a selfie.

A selfie can also be taken in a mirror or with a webcam.

Another term for selfie is “self portrait.”

The term was first used in 2002, in an online chat in Australia.

News

Canada’s Economists Need To Improve Their Writing Skills: Report

It’s important to be able to write clearly. Some of Canada’s economists are finding out just how important.

An “internal report card” gave mediocre grades to economists at the Bank of Canada on their writing skills.

The Bank of Canada is Canada’s central, or main, bank. “Economists” at the Bank of Canada are in charge of making sure Canada’s economy is healthy.

Every once in awhile, organizations like the Bank of Canada take a look at how well they’re doing.

Just like school report cards, they grade themselves in many different areas so they can see where they need to improve.

News

Family In Guelph Living Like It’s 1986

A family in Guelph, Ontario is spending a year living in 1986.

They’re doing it so their kids can see what life was like before complicated technology like iPads, sophisticated computers, tablets and even complicated coffee machines were part of everyday life.

They have banned all technology from their home and are relying on the things people would have used back in the 80s.

There is a box at the front door where people can temporarily deposit their mobile devices, like cell phones, while they’re visiting the family.

Blair McMillan and his girlfriend, Morgan want their kids—Trey, 5, and Denton, 2—to have a year free of technology.

Entertainment

Viral Video Turns Out To Be A Hoax

You can’t believe everything you see on the Internet.

Last week, millions of people—including many news producers—learned that lesson in a very interesting way.

A very popular Internet video turned out to be a hoax.

The video was of a girl twerking (a current dance fad) in her room; she dances so hard that she falls onto a candle and her pants catch on fire.

More than nine-million people watched the video.

The video was shown on hundreds of newscasts, including major networks ABC and some local Fox Network affiliates.

News

People Who Text A Driver May Be Held Responsible For Crash

Everyone knows it’s dangerous to use a cell phone or text while driving.

In the future, it could be illegal to text someone who is driving.

That’s because it may cause the driver to pick up the phone and text back—which could cause a crash.

Three judges in the U.S. state of New Jersey have “agreed in principal” that if someone knows that the person they’re texting is driving, and the driver crashes into someone, both people (the driver and the texter) might be considered responsible for the accident.

News

Radio-Canada Flip-Flops On Name Change

Radio-Canada, the French-language branch of the CBC, announced on June 5 that it was changing its name to “ICI”.

So many people objected to the change, however, that on June 10 the president of the CBC said the broadcaster would keep the name Radio-Canada after all.

The organization uses the tagline “Ici Radio-Canada” on its TV and radio news stories. It wanted to “rebrand” itself with a name that could be used for all of its services – television, radio, satellite and website – so it planned to drop “Radio-Canada” from its name and be known simply as “ICI.”

But many Canadians were very upset about the name change. They objected to removing the word “Canada” from the name because the organization is part of Canada’s heritage, and because it is paid for with money from Canadian taxpayers.

CBC/Radio-Canada was created by the government in 1936 to be Canada’s national public broadcaster. The organization gets most of the money it needs to operate – about 60 per cent, or $1-billion a year – from the government.

Its official purpose is to provide programming that is “predominantly and distinctively Canadian,” and to “contribute to shared national consciousness and identity.”

Federal Heritage Minister James Moore, who is in charge of giving money to CBC/Radio-Canada, also opposed to new name. He said taxpayers would only be willing to pay for the broadcaster if it was Canadian in content and in name.

Health

Many Celeb Chefs’ Recipes Not Healthy: Study

Celebrity chefs serve up amazing food that tastes great and is good for you, right?

Research shows that most people believe that food created by famous chefs is generally healthy.

Well, maybe not.

Some researchers at Coventry University in Britain took a look at 904 recipes written by 26 celebrity chefs.

A celebrity chef is a chef who has become famous and popular—often because of they’re on a TV show or own a famous restaurant.

More than 85 per cent of the recipes the researchers tested “fell substantially short of the UK government’s healthy eating recommendations,” according to a media release on the Coventry University website. Most of the recipes called for ingredients that are known to contribute to health problems like obesity and heart disease.