Generation Geek

A Toronto-based blog about everything geek.

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12 Things Every Tim Hortons Employee Wants You To Know

This past weekend we gave thanks to friends and family for the care and love they provide us with. I thought we, as Torontonians (and some Canadians) should also give thanks to the people that provide us with our daily sustenance. I sat down with a few Tim Hortons workers and interviewed them about their day. We got into the nitty-gritty when I wanted them to tell me things that they wished their customers knew, but never seem to know.

If you work for Tim Hortons, here’s hoping that you don’t get bothered about these things for much longer!

Coffee is always fresh just before every rush. If you come at the end of the rush, you’re grabbing that last little bit before we make a new set. Sorry.

The Iced Cappuccino machine is by far the worst machine to handle because it always makes a mess.

Anyone that orders 4x4 of any drink is a savage.

The smell of coffee drives you insane after working an eight hour shift, and it doesn't even keep you awake. 

Trying to not buy from the place you work at only results in you buying things all the time.

I don’t know who designed the Tim Hortons uniforms, but nobody asked to look like a cup of coffee.

The cream and sugar is dispensed on a machine, so unless I heard you say 3 and you said 2, there’s no reason I added more than you wanted.

You cannot bring food back half eaten, wanting a refund because you didn’t like it. You ate it, don’t come back.

It is so loud behind the counter that I wish I could hear you better, but I’m battling with the fear of asking you again, and hoping I heard you correctly the first time.

We have special fund raising days, like Camp Day and certain holidays, we don’t like working them as much as you don’t like hearing about them.

I don’t control the world’s coffee supply, so when the price goes up, I’m usually hearing about it when I ask you how you're paying.

For a business with thousands of employees, getting someone to cover a shift is like trying to find money on the ground. You’re lucky if it happens, but when does it actually?

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Is Dead On Arrival

Samsung’s most recent, and most controversial, phone is terminating production. After a 3 month long battle between the world and the Galaxy Note 7 batteries, Samsung can finally deem the Note 7 as a strike-out. After last week’s news spread of the recall on all of their Note 7’s, and the numerous issued replacements that still caught fire, Samsung had no choice but to end the life cycle of the Note 7 prematurely. 

“Taking our customer’s safety as our highest priority, we have decided to halt sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7”

Anyone using a Note 7, as well as replacement units, are recommended to have the phone off at all times and returned to the place of original purchase. Cell phone providers have issued statements allowing customers to exchange their Note 7 for another Samsung device or any other cellphone from a different manufacturer.

The Galaxy Note 7 was a beautiful phone. Back in its August release, reviews skyrocketed the phone’s consumer appreciation, but in no time, the phones began catching fire and exploding. As September came around, Samsung issued replacements for everyone to exchange their launch phone with, making it seem like the problem was solved by a factory change or shipping issue. However, these also caught fire, becoming a risk large enough that airports and planes would not allow you to travel with them. 

Now that Note 7 has been put to rest, the mobile industry has fair warning on their future with battery technology and how seemingly ‘safe’ can be just as dangerous as the extreme. Trend wise, Samsung still exists and their other product lines retain their glory, but this might not bode well for the next iteration of Samsung devices.

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Riot Games Crowd Funded The League Of Legends Worlds Prize Pool to Double

After shifting their balance on the community’s input in their game Riot Games opens the door to increased Prize Pool dollars through in game purchases.

Last month, as the pro-level summer season ended, Riot Games posted about their changes to approaching the world, the pro-level teams, and the money the community puts behind them. Riot wanted to lengthen their stay in the timeline of esports, and by doing so, they needed to be more open with sponsorship, community input, and pro-team values.

Their initial step towards growth was to allow growth on the prize pool of their annual tournament. Every year a ‘Championship’ Skin is added to the game, that is only offered for a limited time. This year, Championship Zed is up for grabs, and 25 percent of all Championship Zed and Championship Ward skins are added to the prize pool.

This past weekend, Group stages for the tournament ended, and before announcing the quarterfinal dates, Riot updated the total prize pool money.

2.015 million dollars were raised from the Championship Zed and Ward sales, added to the 2.13 million of the original prize pool, making that a whopping 4.145 million dollars in prize money. 25% of these cosmetic items have doubled the tournament prize pool in a mere two weeks of being available.

Like most tournaments, the money will be spread across all of the teams who have earned the spot to enter, as cool as it would be to win the grand total. The split is as follows:

1st place: 40%

2nd place: 15%

3rd/4th place: 7.5% (15% total)

5th-8th place: 4% (16% total)

9th-12th place: 2.25% (9% total)

13th-16th place: 1.25% (5% total)

That’s a lot of money to give away to kids who are really good at playing your game, but hey, we’re not complaining.

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Whispers: Overwatch's Halloween Details And Sombra Leak Online

By: Dorian Chatarpaul

It looks like Overwatch is getting Halloween costumes and a new game play mode, just in time for your Halloween hangover.

Sombra, a hacker that Blizzard didn’t plan on revealing, shows face below.

The post was revealed on Imgur, Gyazo, and DeviantArt, claiming that Sombra is the “worlds best and most notorious hacker”. The image itself is a screen grab taken from an internal Blizzard website that boasts her ‘hacking her way into Overwatch soon’, although no date was posted in or on that image.

She was given a short bio within the photo. According to the description, she worked with the Mexican Los Muertos gang, last seen in Soldier 76’s animated short movie, until she attracted too much unwanted attention and had to go underground. She was later recruited by the Talon organization, which is the same group that Reaper and Widowmaker work for.

Based on her appearance in the leaked image: She is armed with a submachine gun and looks to be wearing magical, or mechanized gloves.

The Halloween mode expected to arrive is based around a castle protection from ‘Zomnics and Dr.Junkenstein’s evil allies’, featuring three different levels of difficulty. Dr.Junkenstein refers to images of a Frankenstein-inspired version of a Junkrat skin, which was featured in a leaked Overwatch comic derived through game code.

The comic also shows Halloween costumes for Mercy as a witch, Roadhog as the Frankenstein monster, Reaper as a jack-o-lanturn wraith, and Junkrat as the mad scientist. The themed event ties to the leak from earlier this week as some Xbox One owners posted about their sightings of ‘Halloween Loot Boxes’ on the Xbox store.

Good to see Overwatch lasting longer than the summer season, but it’s going to be interesting to watch it hold up to Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. This might be their last hurrah before November slams into the FPS Genre, so I bid Blizzard good luck!

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Paddle It Out At SPiN Toronto

By: Hannah Korbee

When you think of the words “cool” and “hip”, it is not very often that they are followed up with the words “ping” and “pong”. However, the Toronto installment of SPiN has changed that forever. Located at 461 King Street West, SPiN can be truly classified as a diamond in the rough. You have to walk down a roomy alleyway to get to the pearly gates, slightly removed from all the hustle and bustle of the regular King Street crowd. But, once inside you feel as though you have stumbled upon a well kept secret.

The space is lofty and air conditioned (thank god), with an open concept array of seating and tables. The decor is seriously funky, with hanging lights, red picnic tables, and ferns all over.  When you walk in, you’re given a few paddles and a nice big bucket of bright orange customized ping pong balls, so you can get your game going straight away. There’s multiple open rooms, with easy access to a flowing bar, and even a private party area. The employees were relaxed and accommodating, and I especially enjoyed that a designated sweeper would come every now and then to collect all the disregarded balls that covered the floor.

I visited this location on two separate occasions, both in the early afternoon, so as to get a feel of the place without the masses of avid ping pongers. I was surprised that I was not alone during either instance. While the location was nowhere near its usual full capacity, there was still a few vibrant groups of players. Of course, I had to ask why these people found themselves playing ping pong at 1PM on weekday afternoon.

“It’s a great way to socialize with your buds without having to sit around a table of a dive bar, and struggle to hear what everyone is saying over loud TV’s.”

And they’re exactly right. SPiN is a club that offers something different. You’re not confined to a box of small talk and uncomfortable dancing, but instead are given permission to have fun and just be unapologetically silly. I’m going to appreciate any place that promotes its patrons to have a genuine good time, without feeling patronized by aesthetic reservations. I’m giving SPiN five out of five paddles and whole bucket of yes.

http://wearespin.com

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6 To Lake

By: Hannah Korbee

And in her wake, all she left to the city was a slight buzz in the ears.

No note. No phone call.

She took comfort in the fact that her absence would disrupt. Her world would hiccup. Misstep. Then move on.

Where she was going, this would not be the case. Her destination was fossilized in shag carpet, wooden loons, and paintings of old men fishing in the sunset. Her impact would be more of a shuffling. She would sweep the pine needles and make a fire. But the world could care less.

The Bullfrogs could care less. Their incessant croaky gossip would continue if she was there or otherwise. The dragonflies would flit and chase one another even without her spectator-ship. "Does a fallen tree make sound even if you're not there to hear it?" Yes, the answer is yes. The tree is hundreds of years old. The fact that you believe your ears are worthy to enjoy the sound of its mighty fall is a whole problem in itself. The tree could give a shit.

But, the lake is not a place for philosophy. It's a place for heavy breathing.

She embraced that the air made her dizzy. She ate Doritos for dinner. She let the water re-baptize her. Not in the way priests drip water on babies. But, in the way that a gecko loses its tail. She embraced the beautiful temporary.  

And when she left it was quiet.

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Views From My City

Is your city the place you live? Is your city the place you love?

My city excites me, from the hot spots, to the cold breezes. Millions of footsteps echo between the darkened shades of the skyscrapers. While metal and glass stay heated from bouncing retorts or reflections. I question everything about my city, from the nooks to the crannies.

A city lacks communication when run by governments, vocalized by parties, and depicted by celebrities. I’ve understood my city through methodical ventures on the subway, all-nighters in front of retailers, and events so ground-breaking that even the sky reciprocated.

There is beauty in my city, and some have found the right angle. My eyes have yet to glance through glares and see the treasure my city holds. Each perspective is a silhouette of the same frame, and yet different. There are good versions, bad versions, the ones we share, and the ones we keep to ourselves. In this city, what you see is what you get, and it can be unending.

You can step on every street, smile at every barista, touch the glass at every store front, and still miss my city. You can make friends, and laugh over incredibly detailed adventures. You can question your value, and what you bring to my city. My city can bring you puppy love, electric romance, and thriving goals that send you to the moon and back. My city is your landing strip, your docking station, and your intermission. Be it in life, in love, and even celebration.

If this city is any of those things, then I will always live in my city and I will always love my city.

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5 Toronto Bars To Change Your Nights Out

Have your nights out consisted of going to the same old bar where you simply sit around chatting with friends until there’s nothing left to talk about? Well, worry no longer! Here’s a list of bars in Toronto that offer various activities to change up your average nights. After all, they say that variety is the spice of life.

1.       SNAKES AND LAGERS, or SNAKES AND LATTES

For five dollars a person, you can enjoy unlimited board gaming. This unique take on the café/bar theme, offered by Snakes and Lattes, boasts over 250 board games with board game specialists to aid you on your quest of finding the perfect game. They stick to a variety of Toronto-based craft beers and cocktails. What’s better than getting tipsy and knocking over the entire Jenga tower ‘by accident’?

Absolutely nothing.

2.       THE LOCKHART

Satisfy your inner Harry-Potter-head by grabbing a “betterbeer” or other Potter themed drinks This bar offers quite a large selection of food with both a tapas and brunch menu, featuring chicken and waffles, as well as ceviche. Talk about a selection! With a strong wizard theme and a shop to pick up your own Lockhart shirts, you’ll feel like you’re out on a trip to Hogsmeade.

3.       GET WELL

This bar may not look like much from the outside, or even from the inside. Decorated with an eccentric collection of mismatched items ranging from a disco ball, aged paintings, and to paper lanterns. Looking at a single thing is quite difficult, while the back of this odd bar is a collection of vintage arcade games sure to bring back some nostalgia. Featuring everything, from pinball to Tetris, as well as a large collection of beer, bottle and draught; you’ll be sure to find something that tickles your fancy.

4.       BAR+ KARAOKE

Isn’t the point of Karaoke to get drunk and belt out Bohemian Rhapsody?

This high-tech, futuristic karaoke bar is a stark contrast from our number three, but is just as cool. They update their song-books every month so that you can jam to the last song you heard on the radio that one time. Since they only feature L.L.B.O. approved, private rooms, you don’t have to worry about embarrassing yourself in front of anyone. Maybe, just your friends. If singing along is too scary, you can always relax in their open bar, enjoying an item from their extensive drink menu.

5.       TRACK AND FIELD

Lawn games are only for old people? Think again.

This bar features two lanes of bocce ball, two lanes of deck shuffleboard, and crokinole, for those who prefer not to stand. Two courts are free for walk-ins, but if you want to reserve your spot, you can rent a court for $40 an hour. The drinks here are very reasonably priced and there are plenty to choose from. They’ve got cocktails, beer, wine, and whisky-oh-my. Although there is a large selection of drinks, your food choices are limited to a tex-mex dip and a spinach dip with chips. The best part about this place is that they are 100% cool with you bringing in food AND even having it delivered.

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A Cognitive Mission: The Baycrest Brain Project

By: Hannah Korbee

I heard about The Baycrest Brain Project in April when the campaign was launched, but had not heard of anything since then. I thought the mission to bring more awareness to dementia and aging was an interesting and important cause, one that affects so many, but is brushed off as an unfortunate side effect of “getting old”. Intrigued, I decided to take a zombie like route for the day, and go on a hunt for brains.

The mission statement for The Brain Project reads: “Dementia strips a person of their abilities and memories, it’s a devastating loss for the person affected and their loved ones. Whether you’re young, middle-aged or older, you can make changes now and potentially reduce your risk.”

While the focus of this project is obviously to raise awareness, there’s also a push to raise funds. These earnings will be given to Baycrest in an effort to show how bilingualism can delay the onset of dementia and to fund the Virtual Brain Project, which entails “An integrated computer model of a fully functioning human brain simulates how the brain is functioning under normal conditions, and then shows how it changes with age and responds to damage from trauma or disease. It will allow scientists – in the not-too-distant future – to virtually test therapies on unique patient groups before introducing those therapies to the patient.”

I’ll be honest when I say that I had a hard time locating these brains at first. I was expecting large sculptures that would immediately catch my eye. But this was not the case. Not to say that the pieces were hidden, but they were well integrated around the city. You had to pay attention to find them. However, once spotted, you could not look away. The artists’ interpretations of these brains are nothing short of fascinating. While each of these brains are the same size, individually they all bring something new for you to understand. You’re given a multitude of mediums, paint, clay, metal, felt, some are reflective, realistic, and even hollow. 

While admiring the brains, I couldn’t help but notice I was the only person doing such. Sure, others would acknowledge them. Maybe stop for a few seconds then, walk past. And if the roles were reversed I would have done the same. It made me think of how the same happens to someone actually suffering with dementia. It will be acknowledged - when it’s right in front of your face you can’t help but - however, more often than not it’s swept to the side. Meant to be something you only feel during awkward silences at family occasions. I don’t know if this was the intention: to integrate the installations in a way that caught you off guard. Either way, it gets your brain working.

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A Cognitive Mission: The Baycrest Brain Project

By: Hannah Korbee

I heard about The Baycrest Brain Project in April when the campaign was launched, but had not heard of anything since then. I thought the mission to bring more awareness to dementia and aging was an interesting and important cause, one that affects so many, but is brushed off as an unfortunate side effect of “getting old”. Intrigued, I decided to take a zombie like route for the day, and go on a hunt for brains.

The mission statement for The Brain Project reads: “Dementia strips a person of their abilities and memories, it’s a devastating loss for the person affected and their loved ones. Whether you’re young, middle-aged or older, you can make changes now and potentially reduce your risk.”

While the focus of this project is obviously to raise awareness, there’s also a push to raise funds. These earnings will be given to Baycrest in an effort to show how bilingualism can delay the onset of dementia and to fund the Virtual Brain Project, which entails “An integrated computer model of a fully functioning human brain simulates how the brain is functioning under normal conditions, and then shows how it changes with age and responds to damage from trauma or disease. It will allow scientists – in the not-too-distant future – to virtually test therapies on unique patient groups before introducing those therapies to the patient.”

I’ll be honest when I say that I had a hard time locating these brains at first. I was expecting large sculptures that would immediately catch my eye. But this was not the case. Not to say that the pieces were hidden, but they were well integrated around the city. You had to pay attention to find them. However, once spotted, you could not look away. The artists’ interpretations of these brains are nothing short of fascinating. While each of these brains are the same size, individually they all bring something new for you to understand. You’re given a multitude of mediums, paint, clay, metal, felt, some are reflective, realistic, and even hollow. 

While admiring the brains, I couldn’t help but notice I was the only person doing such. Sure, others would acknowledge them. Maybe stop for a few seconds then, walk past. And if the roles were reversed I would have done the same. It made me think of how the same happens to someone actually suffering with dementia. It will be acknowledged - when it’s right in front of your face you can’t help but - however, more often than not it’s swept to the side. Meant to be something you only feel during awkward silences at family occasions. I don’t know if this was the intention: to integrate the installations in a way that caught you off guard. Either way, it gets your brain working.

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Pokemon Go and Where Not to get It

By: Matt Dionne

Pokémon Go is the highly anticipated, augmented reality, mobile-game that was released for the US and Australasia earlier this month. Born from a partnership of development between Nintendo and Niantic, Pokémon Go allows you to foster pocket monsters after catching them in real-life locations.

So far the game has been a huge hit, and is now more popular than Tinder (because why would you want to risk catching syphilis or gonorrhea when you can catch Pikachu instead).

Pokémon Go was released on July 6th for Android and iOS devices, and by July 8 it had been installed on eight percent of all Android devices in the US.

Despite some server hiccups, Pokémon Go has been extremely successful thus far – which has lead many people, who don’t yet have access to the game, to find alternative ways to download it.

There have been many different methods people have used, but one of the most common, and dangerous ones, is known as “side-loading.”

Side-loading involves downloading the file from a third-party app or website that hosts the files, as well as file-sharing networks such as Bit Torrent. Technically, since the game is free to play, this isn’t considered piracy.

However, many of the third-party versions of Pokémon Go have been found to contain malware that can seriously damage the device the files are downloaded on.

One specific type of malware that was linked to Pokémon Go was called DroidJack, which has been linked to developers in India. Apparently DroidJack has the ability to: view all messages on a device, listen to all voice calls on a device, listen live or record audio from a device’s microphone, control a device’s camera, and obtain a device’s last known GPS location.

The DroidJack-ed version of Pokémon Go doesn’t run any differently the than official version of the game, but the app’s permissions will be different than the official app, including: record audio, directly call phone numbers, read call log, read your web bookmarks and history.

Another risk with side-loading Pokémon Go is the risk of being banned from using the game, which is classified as ‘cheating’ according to the “Trainer Guidelines.”

This isn’t Niantic’s or Nintendo’s fault. In classic Nintendo fashion, they act unaware to the extreme popularity of their software mascots and did not expect such interest in the game. Since everyone is able to use the servers, even in places the game was not yet made available, Niantic struggles to keep the game live in many areas of the world.

Fortunately, trainers from outside the US and Australasia, who aren’t willing to side-load the game, won’t have to wait long. Pokémon Go is expected to be released in Canada, Europe and Asia before the end of July, if Niantic can find the server space, *cough*Amazon Prime Day*cough*.

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I've Got the Keys to Success

By: Dorian Chatarpaul

My generation is going to have the hardest time being successful. We have articles, books, videos, and influencers. All of these things preach success for their particular audiences, be it steps, reminders, or guidelines. How many easy steps, life hacks, and guarantees do we need, before we can get there?

When you think of the keys to success, do you expect them to unlock a briefcase in your closet that bestows millions of dollars upon you? Is it a car key? Or a trip to the Caribbean islands?

You should guess by now that success has many keys. And these keys all work on locks with certain perspectives. You might have the keys to success right now. They rest silently on the hook, deep in your mind. You might be reaching for them, just about grasping them as they jingle against each-other. 

More than likely, you all have the keys to success, you’re just not looking at it from the right angle. We look for these keys because we believe that they can lead us to tricks, hints, easy steps, and cheats that allow us to work less and achieve more. 

These tricks and cheats are no treats to our lives, but a moral obligation to procrastination. My keys to success are hard work, constant work, ever-striving, always-on-your-mind work. 

This advice can be easily dismissed, because we’ve heard it so many times. My generation, like the generation before it, was told that if you work hard, you’ll get somewhere. However often misused, success is the achievement of your hard work, based on your satisfaction. You’re not done working, until you believe you’ve reached that success. 

Sure, success isn’t guaranteed. I don’t know you, or your work ethic. But, I do know that hard work does not resemble failure. 

If you want to be successful, start working harder. If it’s hard right now, then you’re on the right path.

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Bless Your Mouth with Sweet Jesus

By: Hannah Korbee

Alright, so there’s been a lot of talk. Instagram has been taken over with pictures of black-tie soft-serve. There’s been debate: Is it over-rated? Over-priced? Over-hyped?  Or, is the place I’ve been waiting for? Is Sweet Jesus truly the next step in the evolution of ice cream? I had to know.

Since the warmer months have rolled around, it seems like Sweet Jesus is all anyone can gab about. Located at 106 John Street, this ice cream parlour is pushed up to the side of the busy patio of La Carnita. However, despite its lacking in size, Sweet Jesus holds its own. My taste associate and I went around 2PM, expecting the line to shock and appall. But we caught a lucky break, and only had to wait 10 minutes to get in. I’m aware that this isn’t the experience for most folks, and I think if I wasn’t expecting to wait, I would have been much more disgruntled.  

For a relatively new place it runs pretty well. You’re handed a menu while you wait outside, so as to cut on time when you’re actually inside. You get let in one group at a time, order your poison, and have only moments to admire the spunky decor before you’re handed a spectacular cone and ushered back outside. I was impressed at how swiftly and successfully it moved.

Although, I do have some qualms.

I don’t necessarily think the ice cream is overpriced. You’re going to get about the same deal at any specialty ice cream place in the city for a three-scoop-cone (Ed’s Real Scoop, The Marble Slab Creamery, Dolce Gelato, etc.) BUT, I did not like the fact that you can’t modify the size. While I’d like to think that my cap for ice cream intake is limitless, in actuality, it’s just not the case. I’m sad to say I was not able to finish my cone. Maybe that shows weakness on my behalf. But let me tell you, throwing that leftover baby in the trash felt like sacrilege.

And not to say the ice cream isn’t delicious- because it is (the strawberry shortcake is just ungh). However, it is a lot of soft serve. The Cookies and Cream cone had a delicious outer coating, it was fudgy, doughy, and cinnamon-y. But, it was only about a quarter of the cone, and the rest was just vanilla soft serve. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with vanilla soft serve, I just wish it had a little something extra to it.

All in all, my experience was pleasant. I’d recommend you go if you have a big, I’m talking Russian big, hankering for ice cream. Or, if you’re a connoisseur for weird as hell combinations. Fruit loops and cotton candy and what not; then this is your place. I’ll leave it with three out of four scoops and a very sticky thumbs up.

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The Flashpoint Plotline Could Affect Arrow

YOU ARE ABOUT TO STUMBLE INTO SPOILERS ABOUT THE FLASH SEASON TWO.

DON'T SAY WE DIDN'T WARN YOU.

By: Elijah Budgeon

In a shared universe, big events have- or at least should have, reverberations that echo throughout. Nobody should be living in a bubble without good reason. This was part of the appeal of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that endures even now where events are informed and further built upon by the incidents before. This is also present in DC Entertainment’s Arrow-verse on a smaller scale, acknowledged between each, even a quick, and pivotal visit, but not necessarily on the same scale, until now.

In the second season’s finale of The Flash, dwelling on everything he lost, Barry Allen decides to run back in time to stop The Reverse-Flash from murdering his mother. He succeeds, and changes the timeline in the process. This is the beginning of Flashpoint.  In the comics, the result of this put the world in a dire state of conflict, and though it was for the most part reversed, it was still a large event that touched the whole universe, not just the life of Barry Allen.  

When it became clear that they were adapting Flashpoint, my knee-jerk reaction was excitement. Even though I knew that the show would have to do their own version, based on the lack of characters missing from the comic ensemble. Grant Gustin’s announcement confirmed this.

My wish was for the consequences of this finale to reach Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow. If these shows, The Flash and Arrow specifically, are playing in the same sandbox, and sharing their toys every year in their crossovers, why should a large event like this be any different? However, it seems too early to say. Stephen Amell, who plays Oliver Queen/Green Arrow doesn’t seem sure either, but didn’t rule it out as a possibility. It may yet happen down the road, maybe in small ways like a returning character appearing sometime in the new seasons of Arrow, and The Flash. 

With the Arrow-verse’s first major universe changing event coming this fall, I hope all the shows in the DC Entertainment universe will join the fun. It is, after all, a big playground.

H/I via behindthepanels.net

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Give Me a Spring Break

By: Luke Gagliardi

We’ve all seen university students drink and take drugs, whether it be at a party, a pub, or in a movie. Student substance usage can be­ and often is­ excessive and unhealthy. But, there are certain reasons society tends to overlook the unhealthy, and dangerous “spring-break” mentality.

Numbers:

It’s a numbers game. Alcoholism can be hidden in group drinking. For example, in a house full of people or on a beach full of breakers, it is easy to overlook some of the tell tale signs of Alcohol addiction. 100 people drinking make a festival, 50 people drinking make a gala, 25 people drinking make a party, 12 people drinking make a get together, 6 people drinking make a Tuesday, 3 people drinking make a dinner, and one person drinking alone makes an alcoholic.

None of that is true, roughly speaking, but it is the general view of society. Now, here is where young adults have an advantage in classification over real adults. Typically, young people gather in larger groups, and attend more parties. They may drink enough to be considered alcoholics, but their habits are masked by the group and by event in ways that the lone adult drinkers are not.

Timing:

Students live in a sort of weird and continuous state of change, their lives are organized semester to semester or year to year. They don’t usually have the kind of static lifestyle you see in proper adults, so a lot of their “habits” seem temporary, and can be overlooked or even excused based on that.

Merit:

Student drinking, and spring break especially, is justified as a “stress reliever”. Because students live in a state of constant stress, when they kick back and uncap a beer to celebrate finishing an assignment (even if they have one due every other day) their behavior is seen as justified. Adults of the working class are supposed to be able to finish a day of work without needing to de­-stress with substances, and those who routinely do so are flagged as having a substance abuse problem. However, we as society give students a bit more leniency as we “understand they are in a period of intense stress”.

These three- let's call them excuses, all combine to mask the reality of spring­-break­-style substance abuse. It’s because of these excuses that we as a society have such a hard time labeling students’ substance use, as substance abuse, even when in similar circumstances we would do just that with adults.

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Bullying the Breed: Encouraging the Witch Hunt

By: Bri McNulty

Editor's Note: Quebec City had not receded the law at the time of writing this article. It is still a valuable discussion based on the circumstances.  

Quebec City has announced its intention to ban pit bulls, or any dog that looks like a pit bull. So realistically any dog that has a shorter snout, is of medium-to-bulky build, and looks comparable to a dog in a grainy video that once attacked a child, will not be allowed to be kept as a pet.

The witch hunt that falls under the title “Pit bull ban” continues to spread. 

Although it is fairly obvious that bad behaviour in dogs can be largely associated with human error, we keep on thrusting our torches and pitchforks at this particular breed (and any type of mixed breed that resembles any sub-class of pit bull).

People opt to anthropomorphize their pets, and they do this with dogs in particular.  So it is only natural that when they do so, they need to have some sort of antagonist of the dog world. Pit bulls (among other breeds, from time to time) have been selected as the ‘bad guys’. Nothing makes people feel quite as safe and in-control as identifying a problem, and then eradicating it. 

Wth the choice to so thoroughly humanize our canine counterparts comes the massive mistake of assuming that they think like us, and will therefore react in a relatable, human way. This is not often the case, and it leads to mistakes being made through misinterpretation and ignorance on the part of the human.

We share this planet with a profoundly large number of other species, and so the following argument could be made countless times: human beings are not naturally gifted when it comes to really and truly trying to understand the nature of pit bulls.

The breed has already been negatively stereotyped into oblivion, and so there is this pre-conceived stigma attached to them that dictates that they are very likely to turn on people (and other creatures) and to wreak havoc. The reality is that with the physical strength the breed possesses (particularly in the force of their bite), any time they do snap or attack, they can easily cause severe injuries, and this draws an awful lot of attention. 

Pit bulls have taken the fall because of how they have been showcased: they are the core of dog-fighting rings, they are on short leashes attached to spiked collars, they are bulky, physically intimidating animals. Uninformed and abusive people get the idea that these dogs are ‘rough and tough’ and so they shape them to be so. The world then sees a negative side of them that has been encouraged by humans, who then decide that banning these dogs is the only way to keep us all safe from their purely human-influenced reign of terror.

How about instead of banning the breed, we ban irresponsible people from taking control of a living creature and teaching it nothing but bad behaviour. Because if there is a way in which dogs are like people, it is in how they are influenced by people’s actions towards them. 

Once the pit bulls have been banned more universally, there will have to be another villain. Interestingly enough, humans seem to get bored when they have no one to blame for their mistakes. 

[generationgeek-blog1]

Bullying the Breed: Encouraging the Witch Hunt

By: Bri McNulty

Editor's Note: Quebec City had not receded the law at the time of writing this article. It is still a valuable discussion based on the circumstances.  

Quebec City has announced its intention to ban pit bulls, or any dog that looks like a pit bull. So realistically any dog that has a shorter snout, is of medium-to-bulky build, and looks comparable to a dog in a grainy video that once attacked a child, will not be allowed to be kept as a pet.

The witch hunt that falls under the title “Pit bull ban” continues to spread. 

Although it is fairly obvious that bad behaviour in dogs can be largely associated with human error, we keep on thrusting our torches and pitchforks at this particular breed (and any type of mixed breed that resembles any sub-class of pit bull).

People opt to anthropomorphize their pets, and they do this with dogs in particular.  So it is only natural that when they do so, they need to have some sort of antagonist of the dog world. Pit bulls (among other breeds, from time to time) have been selected as the ‘bad guys’. Nothing makes people feel quite as safe and in-control as identifying a problem, and then eradicating it. 

Wth the choice to so thoroughly humanize our canine counterparts comes the massive mistake of assuming that they think like us, and will therefore react in a relatable, human way. This is not often the case, and it leads to mistakes being made through misinterpretation and ignorance on the part of the human.

We share this planet with a profoundly large number of other species, and so the following argument could be made countless times: human beings are not naturally gifted when it comes to really and truly trying to understand the nature of pit bulls.

The breed has already been negatively stereotyped into oblivion, and so there is this pre-conceived stigma attached to them that dictates that they are very likely to turn on people (and other creatures) and to wreak havoc. The reality is that with the physical strength the breed possesses (particularly in the force of their bite), any time they do snap or attack, they can easily cause severe injuries, and this draws an awful lot of attention. 

Pit bulls have taken the fall because of how they have been showcased: they are the core of dog-fighting rings, they are on short leashes attached to spiked collars, they are bulky, physically intimidating animals. Uninformed and abusive people get the idea that these dogs are ‘rough and tough’ and so they shape them to be so. The world then sees a negative side of them that has been encouraged by humans, who then decide that banning these dogs is the only way to keep us all safe from their purely human-influenced reign of terror.

How about instead of banning the breed, we ban irresponsible people from taking control of a living creature and teaching it nothing but bad behaviour. Because if there is a way in which dogs are like people, it is in how they are influenced by people’s actions towards them. 

Once the pit bulls have been banned more universally, there will have to be another villain. Interestingly enough, humans seem to get bored when they have no one to blame for their mistakes.