Written From The Elbow

I used it. It worked as promised. In short, the RT LAMP Test Kit @ US$118 / CAD$149 (no taxes applicable) is what all Canadian travellers have been waiting for! Scroll straight to the end of this post for unboxing photos and my experience using the kit. With an overseas trip on the horizon, I researched the daylights out of the announcement from Air Canada and Switch Health that one could buy a molecular test kit in advance that met Canada's entry requirements and saved one the hassle of finding a lab overseas, spending a day getting tested and often waiting days for the result. Switch Health has a video of the LAMP Test Kit online too. The only review I could find left me with questions - it seemed to read like a sponsored endorsement and the reviewer's trip also seemed to have been sponsored. So I'm sharing my step by step journey using the kit, as well as researching and purchasing to help fellow travelers on their own journeys. See the end of this post for unboxing ph...

With COVID-19 restrictions, finding and going to a notary was out of the question, so I dipped my toes into the new world of 24/7 online notaries to try and find a good one. I tried a few out when I had to have an affidavit notarized for use in the United States. Here's my unbiased opinion, and top two choices plus a runner up. My top choice is far ahead of the other two. I was a bit skittish using an online service because one has to upload and submit copies of one's driver's licence, passport etc., all of which can be a recipe for hackers who want to steal your identity. I did a lot of research for a few days, to satisfy myself of their authenticity, including searching domain registrations and looking for newspaper articles and the LinkedIn profiles of their staff and management. #1 NotaryLive.com Notarylive.com based in the state of New York was heads and shoulders above the rest. Their online support was responsive and well informed, and answered most of my questions ...

Most importantly, you can use Vonage Canada 's services on Beanfield Metroconnect 's network in Toronto. If you use Vonage 's services in Canada and are switching or have switched to Beanfield Metroconenct 's awesome service in Toronto, here's how to configure the router to allow Vonage's services to still work. Since Beanfield is a local service, Vonage's (helpful) tech support had no idea how to help me navigate the hardware, as they would have if I'd been with Bell or Rogers. Log into your Beanfield router. Beanfield uses a proprietary optical fibre router. If you don't know how to, call or email Beanfield's (helpful) support and they'll tell you. Once you log in, choose the "Zhone Router Rental" and click on it. Then choose the "Port Forwarding & Firewall" tab, and choose the "Add Rule" button on that page. Add a rule with information to get the outcome in the image below. Description: vonag...

Powerful poetry on the immigrant experience by @ jennymxie via @ POETSorg

If we are what we watch, then it seems we also vote that way. This growing rift between communities, mirrored in the media they consume, is redrawing political boundaries across the planet. The boundaries we took for granted in our geography textbooks, and on which national policy and governance are premised, may no longer hold true.   Photo: Shutterstock The outcome of America's recent presidential race sent shockwaves across the world. Donald Trump, a populist, wealthy, reality TV star beat the odds to win. As pundits of every stripe still continue to scratch their heads to explain the result, the  New York Times  posted a fascinating article  earlier this week that may explain his victory and how cultural preferences are redrawing the political boundaries within America and across the world. If we are what we watch, then it seems we also vote that way. This was most literally proven in the case of Donald Trump- best known for his television role in  The ...

If you live in an Indian city, every breath you take is killing you. Here's why, and how you can change things... Prioritising rapid urban transit, walking and cycling networks in cities over the individual's use of a car will reduce pollution, but also increase economic and health outcomes (Photo: Shutterstock) Even as climate change wreaks havoc across the planet, causing drought and floods, and temperatures in 2016 look  set to overtake 2015 as the hottest year on record , a far more toxic problem has been slowly brewing over India's cities in the last decades - air pollution. Its impacts are local and far more devastating to every woman, man and child in India. It does not discriminate with regard to who it kills. We fret endlessly about terrorism and turn against real and false enemies, even as the air we breathe is slowly and surely killing us one breath at a time. In 2015,   The Economist  published a short piece  on the toxicity of the air Indians breathe. It...

Urban light pollution is linked to higher rates of mental illness and cancer. Over 50% of the world's population now live in cities. As this ratio grows, the problem will get worse. When you sleep tonight, reclaim the night from the light. Last week,  New York City Council studied  the details of a bill that may "limit internal and external light use in many commercial buildings when empty at night." It joins several other global cities that have moved in the same direction over the last few years. Even Paris, known as the City of Lights, hit the dimmer switch in July 2013 after  France passed nationwide legislation  that mandates a 1 a.m. curfew on over-illumination. The reasons for turning down the lights are threefold. Firstly, resulting lower energy usage cuts costs and CO2 emissions. Secondly,  night-migrating birds that rely on the moon and stars for navigation , lose their way because of the confusion that light pollution causes them, and many ...