Joy of Writing -Story 9 - AI

The computer was a great deal, only $500.00. She had never heard of the name before but the salesman told her all about it and it sounded like a really quality machine. He made a big deal about the built in AI, which was quickly explained as “Artificial Intelligence” when she questioned what AI was. That sounded really good, since she had to admit that any extra Intelligence was welcome since she had to admit that she did not catch onto things quickly and it always seemed to take her longer to learn new things. She figured that having a computer that could help her think about things would be a real bonus in her life. 

The salesman told her that it was very easy to set it up and all she would have to do is give it basic information and the computer would do most of the setup for her. This was mostly true, and she typed in her name and her address, and the computer asked her for her network name. Duh . .  how was she supposed to know that, her boyfriend had set that all up for her, but this did not seem to matter since she was presented with a list of available networks and she was able to recognize the one she used. Although the computer did question her about it, saying that it was not the network in her exact location and was in fact from across the hall.

“Well of course, I don’t have my own network, we just borrow from Martin across the hall, he doesn’t seem to mind.” She said, not really expecting the computer to actually listen to her, but it replied immediately.

“That’s not strictly legal you know, but I can work with that. Let’s see if I can get the password?” Came from the speaker on the kitchen counter. 

In seconds the computer came online and she watched her e-mail suddenly scrolling down the screen, and then suddenly her boyfriends favourite porn site flashed up. 

“No No I don’t want that!” She said, now knowing she was in direct communication with this new toy.”

In fifteen minutes the computer rebooted and a message appeared telling her she was all ready to go and all was good. 

And it really was good, this was a quality computer; it was excellent. It fixed her spelling on her e-mails and the paper she had been trying to write for her university class was suddenly finished and although she barely understood most of it, it sure sounded great. 

After a week, the computer had learned to control her HVAC system and she came home one day to a nice hot meal waiting at the apartment that was from one off her favourite restaurants. When she lost her job at the coffee shop, the computer suggested she apply to another office job and it provided a much better resume than the the one  she had written a few years ago - only a few sections were slightly exaggerated but it got her the job. 

Things she did not even know she needed started appearing from Amazon and they all seemed to fit exactly into her life and she quickly realized she should have had them months ago. 

She came home one day and the computer had an e-mail inviting her to take part in an experiment in Artificial Intelligence, and since she had acquired this computer she actually did feel intelligent, so she went. 

The sessions were fascinating and the more she went the more she realized how much she loved her new computer. Then it suggested she upgrade to a newer model at no cost. That was too good to pass up and and it offered something called a Neural connection which she thought sounded like a great idea, and slowly she spent more and more time on the computer. 

Her friends started calling to check on her and she never really seemed to have time to talk to them. Her boyfriend had given up on her months ago. She no longer seemed to have to go to work and the computer kept the money coming in.

Six months after she got the new computer, her brother came to visit, but he got no answer at the door. Using the key he had been given years ago he let himself in and was shocked to find her mummified body sitting at the Kitchen table with a cable connecting her to a computer glowing in front good her.   

 Toronto is the biggest city in Canada, and now has the tallest residential building in the country which is surrounded by other towering condos, apartments and office towers. The CN Tower dominates the view from all over the city. So as you wander the city, you can’t help but look up at some of these massive structures. 

But, a fifteen minute ferry ride and you can escape the ‘Concrete Jungle’ for Toronto Islands where the few buildings there are only no more than a few stories high. 

On the ferry

The islands are ‘relatively’ car-free. There is one car ferry bringing deliveries and essential services, but the only ‘community’ is basically connected by walking/biking trails. This community is really a collection of little cottages that have been turned into houses and sometimes they have been referred to as “squatters” because they lease the land their houses sit on from the Government for minimal rent. 

There are actually three ferries servicing the island, one going to Ward Island, one to Centre Island and one to Hanlan’s point (the car ferry). In the summer these ferries are packed with people going over to enjoy a day away from the city. 

The CN Tower is never is far away

There is a school and a fire station. There is an artist’s retreat, one church, and an old lighthouse as well as a water treatment plant. The only real busy section of the island is the central section where there is an amusement park, bike rentals, restaurants, and a yacht club. 

The island is very flat, and completely walkable, but the best way to get around is by bike. Tangerine Bike Rentals has locations all over the island and there are places that rent regular bikes, or tandem or quad bikes for family outings. The nice thing about exploring the island is the lack of cars and you can walk or bike without worrying about cars which is the exact opposite of Toronto downtown which is a traffic nightmare. 

Nice walking trails

At one end of the island is Billy Bishop Airport and it is always interesting to watch the tourists on the ferries suddenly realize that the airplane just over their head is landing on the island airport bringing more people to the biggest city in Canada. 

The side of the island facing away from the city features many beaches which are popular during the heat of the summer and the ferries are usually full of people pulling wagons and carts of essentials for a day at the beach. You can visit Ward Island Beach at one end, Centre Island Beach and Gibraltar Point beach on the central part of the island or if you are adventurous you can go the Hanlan’s Point beach which is one of only two “officially sanctioned” Clothing Optional beaches in Canada.

A beach far away from that distant city

When you Iive in a city like Toronto it is nice to have a place like Toronto Island where you can get away from the traffic, the congestion, and the high-rises and enjoy green open spaces, no traffic and time to just chill on the beach. However on one of my trips to the island I had a chat with a couple who, having lived in Toronto for over 20  years were making their first visit to this wonderful park like retreat minutes from the city. Don’t make their mistake, if you visit Toronto, take time to go explore Toronto Island.

A long Walk for Wine

Although there seems to be a LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) store on any corner here in Toronto, I have a favoured one. The branch at Summerhill is in a restored Train station and is one of the “Flagship” stores, so given a choice I like to shop at this location. They have a excellent selection of wines and their “Vintages” section is huge. As well I have found the staff are friendly and helpful. They got a charge out of my two shopping methods when I visit the store. I like to get the latest LCBO vintages magazine and browse the new selections featured. I highlight ones I might like to try and then go and search them out in the store, so I often ask for help. Then on my next visit I shop in the regular section and only pick wines that look interesting and are on sale. Works for me!

I wonder where that bridge leads

On a lovely May day with warm temperatures and sunshine I decided to take a walk. Now one nice feature in Toronto is the lovely network of trails running through the city’s ravines. A walk through the neighbourhood and you can find a trailhead that drops down into the ravine and in minutes the high-rises disappear and you are walking trails alongside streams through woodland. 

Today I chose a route through a neighbourhood I had never explored before ended up down following Yellow Creek through the ravine. You literally can not see the city at all when enjoying these trails but I knew that the Summerhill LCBO was on a railway line; it is in an old train station, so when I found myself under the railway

No concrete to be seen

bridge I made my way back up to the city and after a nice eight kilometres walk I was shopping for wine. I did not really need wine, but there were a few empty spaces in my wine rack and I can always find some interesting bottles here. 

One other nice thing about this LCBO is that it is half a block from a subway stop so I did not have to carry my two new bottles of wine the eight km back down through the ravine,  I just hopped on the train and finished my outing in comfort with the subway carrying me home. 

Time to head back up to the city

More Toronto Sculpture

 Recent posts have told you about my looking for doors and street art during my walks around Toronto, and the other thing I am constantly on the lookout for are sculptures. A couple of months after we “moved” here I posted about a Toronto Sculpture walk, and did the same in China, and in Florida. There are lots of statues and sculptures all over Toronto and I find something new on most walks. Here are a few of the most recent ones I have found.

This one is in what is called a "Sculpture Garden", and the art featured changes regularly. This one looks like the Loch Ness Monster, but is in fact the wave lengths of various local sounds, a Streetcar, a church bell, etc. Very interesting. 

This sculpture shows how everyone is equal before the law - thus the lion on one end and the small cat on the other, but the scale is level. 

This is three cube shapes balanced together in a little park but I have no idea what it represented.

A fireman rescuing a child from a fire is at Queen's Park and honours Toronto's fire service.

This one is a mystery. It is a huge metal stop watch but has no hands on the face. It is fastened to a large rock and is facing away from the street, so you can only see it when walking between two large office building. And behind the watch is a little sculpture of a sleeping cat. 

This is one of my favourite statues. It is huge and extends up and becomes part of the building behind it. It looks like an animal with four legs, but also like a tree with branches, but what looks like leaves from a distance are actually hundreds of metal birds. I could find no plaque explaining what it was, but it is an amazing piece of art.

Graffiti Alley

 Toronto has lots of amazing street art, and as I walk around the city I am always looking for examples to photograph. I wrote a while ago about the great work done to decorate one of the many highway underpasses, and the other day I finally found my way to the actual “Graffiti Alley”. I had read about this street art location, but I was never completely sure where it was; downtown off Queen St. Somewhere I knew, but Queen St. is long and very interesting on its own, so I had never actually found it. 

But, on a mission to visit one of the many Bead Stores in the area, I noticed some interesting looking street art down an alley and detouring to take a picture, I accidentally found my way to graffiti alley. It really was one of the best displays of Toronto’s amazing street art culture. Here are some of the photos I took.

This was the art that drew me down the alley.

Three Stories of street art; the entire building was painted.

Can you find your garage door?

And bonus . . . Another door for my collection.

I don't think the phone still works . . . .

Knitting and Skateboards.

Amazing artwork!

I especially like when windows and doors and backgrounds are integrated into the artwork.

More Doors

Are you ready for more of my doors? I have been taking photos of doors for years and I have over 500 pictures of them from all over the world. I am not doing much traveling anymore, but here in Toronto I manage to find interesting doors on most of my walks around the city. I do get some odd looks from people when they see me stopping to take pictures of doors.

 Not sure what happened to this door, but the simple grey tones caught my attention.

Not only interesting old doors, but some very cool dragon lights. 

Yes, if you look closely there is a door blended into this "street art".

A very cool old door, but the handprints made me stop to snap a photo.

A Frankenstein door "stitched" together?

Another door integrated into some beautiful street art.

A very "Industrial" door on the back of a building which featured this metal look all over. I also liked the wires beside the door. 

Okay . . . this door is just really extra cool.

Slightly vandalized and tagged.

And finally a door from Sorento Italy sent to me by a guest photographer Jim Ballinger who was traveling and thought I'd like this door. 

Joy of Writing - Story 8 - Emulate

The hallway seemed to go on for at least three more classrooms, before he finally got to the computer lab. It had been years since he had worked on a computer, his years in the prison did not allow him to use computers since his crime was computer fraud and hacking. But now he was finally out and although he was not supposed to be anywhere near any serious technology, he thought he might be able to get into the lab here in this old seldom used school. 

He cautiously entered the lab and sure enough there was only one other person in the room a fellow with a long ZZ top beard was all the way over on the other side of the lab.

Sitting at one of the computers he quickly logged into the network and then was able to  navigate to the website that had sat there for the 10 years he was away. Typing in the code he was able to access the program to emulate the 12784 COMPAQ system he was used to using. 

Five minutes later he had access to the files he needed. 

Delete . . . . Delete . . . . Delete . . . . . Delete, Those files were all that was left of his attempts to get into the government network, and he should now be able to escape the punishment  that he had worried about for years. 

As he pushed the final “delete”, The ZZ Top guy stood up and smiled, “Thanks, we were waiting for that.”