Here’s a fact about playing vinyl records. Do they sound consistently good all the way through? In other words, does the music sound as good nearer to the outside of the record as it does as the tonearm moves closer to the centre label? No.
The outer grooves move faster under the stylus, meaning it has to wiggle less per rotational inch. That translates into less distortion. But as the tonearm approaches the centre of the record, the available space for grooves is less, creating what’s known as “inner groove distortion”—and there’s not much anyone can do about it, because this is an inherent limitation of vinyl.
It also explains why some acts put what they consider their best songs as tracks one, two or three on the side of an LP. They want them to have the best sonic quality.
The vinyl revival shows absolutely no sign of going away as LPs continue to outsell CDs and show double-digit growth year after year. Here are a couple of facts you may not know about vinyl.
First, it is a myth that coloured vinyl sounds inferior to plain black vinyl. In fact, black vinyl is actually coloured. Polyvinyl chloride, the material used to make records, is naturally transparent. To make it black, you need to add carbon. Today’s multi-coloured vinyl is made using dyes that don’t hurt anything and, in fact, are up to today’s best standards.
Yes, back in the day, coloured records could sound bad, but that’s when they were considered novelty items and didn’t receive the proper love when it came to mastering and pressing.
“Mr. Brightside” was the very first single by The Killers. It first showed up in the UK on an indie label called Lizard King—and only 500 CD singles were available. Since then, the song has been played almost three billion times on Spotify and hundreds of millions more views on YouTube. It also has been on the British charts for 489 weeks. It’s the song that won’t go away and one that just keeps on giving for The Killers.
The wild thing is that it’s based on a real story.
A quarter-century ago, frontman Brandon Flowers walked into The Crown and Anchor, a bar in his hometown of Las Vegas, only to find his girlfriend cheating on him. Completely heartbroken, he went home and wrote out all the lyrics by hand. Now it’s one of the biggest hits of the century. I wonder what that woman thinks of all this?
No matter what you may hope, artificial intelligence is not going away. And while there are a lot of scary things about it, AI can be used as a tool when it comes to making music. But if you’re an AI user, here’s a request: Stop being polite to the chatbot because it wastes tremendous amounts of energy.
AI doesn’t work on word count. It counts tokens. In general, one token equals four characters of text. The more tokens you use—in other words, the more text you use in your prompt—the more data needs to be processed. If you use unnecessary words like “please” and “thank you,” you are burning energy.
According to UN research, an end to just 25% of politeness would save up to 100 gigawatts of electricity, which could otherwise be used to supply power to nearly 750,000 for a year.
A new report from the Office of the Chief Coroner in New Brunswick says unsafe sleeping practices are contributing to infant deaths in the province. The report from the Child Death Review Committee highlights ongoing concerns. David Murdock reports.
A new report from the Office of the Chief Coroner in New Brunswick says unsafe sleeping practices were involved in more than a third of infant deaths over a five-year period.
The report from the Child Death Review Committee highlights ongoing concerns related to preventable infant deaths.
“The report examines cases reviewed by the committee to identify common risk factors and opportunities to help prevent future tragedies,” said deputy chief coroner, Emily Caissy, who is chair of the committee.
From Jan. 1, 2020 to Sept. 11, 2025, the coroner’s office says it responded to 20 child deaths that involved unsafe sleeping practices.
“The review found unsafe sleep practices were associated with 36 per cent of all deaths of children under the age of two during that period,” the Department of Justice and Public Safety said in a news release.
“In 16 of the 20 cases, unsafe sleep practices were directly linked to the cause of death.”
In a statement, Public Safety Minister Robert Gauvin said the findings reinforce the need for education and collaboration.
According to the coroner’s office, the Department of Social Development was involved with the families of 10 of those 20 cases at the time of the children’s deaths. Half of the report’s six recommendations were directed towards the department.
“Social development was identified as a partner — a department that would have the opportunity for intervention and awareness,” said Caissy.
“One of the findings that we have actually in the report is that we weren’t able to establish a risk, a socioeconomic risk. And there’s multiple services that social development provides that they would have a reason to be in contact with someone.”
The report made mention of social media and its role in spreading what Caissy said was “sometimes conflicted advice” on safe practices.
“Some of that advice is not founded in any kind of research. Although well intended, sometimes it doesn’t provide good and solid information,” she said.
“People will turn to social media instead of their doctors maybe for advice. So we’ll see that reflected in the report and again like I said sometimes the information that people get on social media is not from reliable sources, so they’re misled in that.”
Caissy pointed specifically to Instagram or TikTok videos that may encourage new parents to co-sleep or bed share in order to maximize bonding, which contradicts Canadian guidelines.
According to the province’s safe sleep for babies resource, bed-sharing — which is when a baby sleeps in the same beds as adults, other children, or pets — is “unsafe and there is a high risk for accidents.”
The province says babies on adult beds can fall or get trapped, blankets can increase the risk of suffocation, and bed-sharing is “even riskier if adults in the bed are under the influence of alcohol, drugs or medication that causes drowsiness.”
When asked if the committee had a difficult task at hand because bed-sharing is common in some cultures and communities, Caissy said they only hoped to share information.
“We’re hoping that once the public is informed, that they will use that information to make their decisions,” she said.
Safe practices
For the hospitals and programs that work with new parents, education about safe sleeping practices is key.
“Horizon will review the committee’s recommendations closely and follow up as appropriate,” wrote Christa Wheeler-Thorne, clinical executive director for women and children’s health with Horizon Health.
She says safe sleep education is a well-established part of the care their teams provide to new parents prior to discharge. That education includes guidance on safe sleeping positions and recognizing unsafe practices.
The IWK Health Centre in Halifax, which is the region’s children’s hospital, recommends making sure infants are in their own safe sleep space — such as a crib or bassinet. The IWK also recommends a firm mattress and no added blankets or teddy bears.
“Making sure that they’re always on their back when they go to sleep,” said Andrea Melanson, a discharge planning coordinator with IWK Neonatal Intensive Care.
“And blankets are — if they do need blankets — are well tucked in around the baby under the armpit so that they can’t slip up near their face.”
During Birth Trauma Awareness Week, an Alberta woman is sharing what she went experienced when her daughter was born in 2021. Dr. Teela Tomassetti has opened the Reproductive and Perinatal Trauma Centre in Sherwood Park and is using the story of how she almost died to help others who are going through similar situations. Quinn Ohler has more.
When Teela Tomassetti was preparing to give birth in 2021, she took prenatal classes, read the books and followed the social media accounts on what to expect.
But when the time came to welcome her daughter into the world, those expectations did not come to fruition.
The Edmonton-area psychologist had planned to have a home birth.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she hoped by giving birth under the care of midwives in her own home, she would be more safely guaranteed her husband could attend.
Instead, she said, she was exposed to midwifery violence and when she knew something was wrong, was denied the ability to go to hospital.
“Being my first pregnancy and my first childbirth experience, I had no idea what was going on with my body,” she said.
“But I could tell something was off.”
She said after hours of begging, they finally took her to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton.
“I had an excessive hemorrhage requiring blood transfusions and a week in hospital” she said.
“I almost died.”
Teela Tomassetti and her newborn daughter in 2021.
Courtesy: Teela Tomassetti
Six weeks later, while home with her newborn baby, she hemorrhaged again because of a retained placenta.
Tomassetti went back to hospital where she underwent a dilation and curettage (D&C) procedure to remove the rest of the leftover tissue.
But then, she developed an infection.
“Twelve weeks postpartum, I was just shattered from the experience,” she said. “It was not what I expected, obviously.”
She sought out a community online who may understand what she was going through. With limited options, she started her own Instagram account: @theteaonbirthtrauma.
“It’s such a beautiful community and really needed in terms of the advocacy,” Tomassetti said.
She founded the Reproductive and Perinatal Trauma Centre — a first of its kind in Canada. The facility has has expanded quickly and now moved into its own space in Sherwood Park.
There are now eight counsellors that work with her on birth trauma, along with other reproductive mental health issues including infertility, pregnancy loss, endometriosis support and paternal mental health.
Teela Tomassetti and her husband announcing their pregnancy.
Courtesy: Teela Tomassetti
Research shows one in three women describe their birth experience as psychologically traumatic, and the RPTC describes birth trauma as “anything that exceeds the nervous system’s ability to cope before, during and after the childbirth experience.”
Those experiences mean each person will view their birth trauma differently.
It can be caused by a long list of things, from emergency situations to provider mistreatment, and can have an impact for months, to years for both those who gave birth and their partners.
“I think so many people know they just didn’t feel right after their birth experience, but then they doubt, like, ‘Is my experience traumatic enough to call it birth trauma?’“
Symptoms of birth trauma can also vary greatly but include things like intrusive thoughts, nightmares, feeling jumpy or anxious or having issues with bonding with baby.
It also can include physical pain and suicidal ideations.
While similar to postpartum depression, Tomassetti said birth trauma is different and health-care providers need to recognize that — to prevent birth trauma from developing into PTSD.
Study results vary but suggest up to one in 10 people can have PTSD after childbirth.
“A lot of people get misdiagnosed with postpartum depression when it’s actually birth trauma, because it’s just what general practitioners know how assess and kind of manage.”
“There’s actual forms and assessments that we can use to help people to get it assessed and get resources in place right away,” Tomassetti said.
Teela Tomassetti and her daughter in 2026.
Courtesy: Teela Tomassetti
Five years after the birth of her daughter, Tomassetti has confronted her own birth trauma head on. She calls her daughter the “light of my life.”
“Sometimes we feel guilty sharing our experiences because we think, ‘Oh, people will assume that I don’t love my daughter because of what I went through,'” she added.
“She is not the cause of my birth trauma.”
She hopes by sharing her story publicly, other parents will understand they are not alone.
“This experience is so isolating, in my opinion. How we heal is through community and connection,” she said. “I just want you to know that you can get better and that there’s resources that exist.
“If something feels off and really dark and heavy about your birth experience and you keep replaying it, reach out because there is help.”
An aerial view of the Calgary Stampede grounds - as crews begin the teardown of this year's "Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth.
Global News
The final attendance numbers for this year’s Calgary Stampede are in, and the 10 days of fun, known as “The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth,” came up a bit short of last year.
Stampede organizers say 1,411,954 walked through the gates of the Stampede this year — that’s down about 60,000 over last year’s total attendance of 1,470,288, which was also about 7,000 fewer than the all-time attendance record of 1,477,953 set in 2024.
The day after this year's Calgary Stampede ended, the operators of North American Midway Entertainment were busy packing up the rides and other amusements for the trip up the QE2 to Edmonton for the start of K-Days on July 17.
Global News
Even though attendance was down this year, the executive director of the Calgary Downtown Association, Shelia Taylor, says the event still “has a huge impact on downtown businesses.”
“It brings hotel stays, restaurants, and so many other business benefits — so it’s absolutely a wonderful time for our city,” Taylor added.
On Monday, the crowds of people dressed in cowboy hats and boots on the Stampede grounds were replaced by people dressed in work clothes and work boots as the operators of the midway, North American Midway Entertainment, prepare the rides for a trip up the QE2 to Edmonton for their next big event of the summer — K-Days, which runs from July 17 to 26 at the Edmonton ECPO Centre and Exhibition Grounds.
The company was offering a wage of $20 per hour for anyone who showed up for the day to help with the teardown.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim speaks during an announcement about a fan zone during the FIFA World Cup, in Vancouver, on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
DD
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is lashing out at the B.C. government about funding new involuntary care beds, but not “where they’re needed most.”
Sim posted a letter on social media stating that, “Once again, the Province has chosen to ignore the city carrying the greatest burden of British Columbia’s addiction, mental health, and public safety crises.”
B.C. Premier David Eby was in Prince George on Friday to announce two new involuntary care facilities — a $92 million 72-bed one in that northern community and a $57-million 60-bed site in Surrey.
The province currently has some 2,000 “involuntary care” beds in all ,with the promise of more to come, but no mention of Vancouver.
“For years, Vancouver has shouldered a disproportionate share of the province’s most complex social challenges,” Sim said.
“Yet with the Province announcing new involuntary care capacity, Vancouver is again left with nothing, not a single new bed.”
“This is an ongoing piece of work and we’re working with other regions of the province, including the Okanagan and Vancouver Island, to identify facilities and opportunities in those communities,” Eby said on Friday.
While the province is focused on finding existing sites that can be more easily and quickly transformed, such as in Prince George and Surrey, critics say the beds are needed now, the Eby government needs to move faster and Vancouver has to be part of the solution.
“We know that if there’s an area anywhere in this province that was in dire need of mandatory care, it’s probably Vancouver and the Downtown Eastside,” Claire Rattée, the official Opposition critic for mental health, addictions, and social housing, told Global News.
“So I do think it’s definitely a problem that Vancouver has once again been left out of this.”
Most of the $131 million set aside in the last B.C. budget for intensive mental and addictions treatment is earmarked for involuntary treatment beds.
“The Province cannot continue to acknowledge the need for involuntary care while refusing to build the very infrastructure required in the community where the need is greatest,” Sim said.
“When it comes to providing treatment, recovery, and involuntary care for those suffering from the most severe mental illness and addiction in Vancouver, Premier Eby and the Province do nothing.
The cost of seafood is making waves across the Maritimes, and fish and chip shops are shouldering the burden. Haddock is the latest item to be marked up, after Fisheries and Oceans Canada reduced haddock fishing quotas by more than 50 per cent in areas off southwestern Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick. Ella MacDonald reports on how restaurants are deadling with the price hike.
Fish and chip shops in the Maritimes are shouldering the burden as haddock prices skyrocket in the region.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada reduced haddock fishing quotas by more than 50 per cent in areas of southwestern Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick this past spring due to declining stocks.
Since then, the cost of haddock has risen dramatically, and fish and chip shops are struggling to turn a profit.
“In a matter of a week or two, it went up 40 per cent. Our supplier maintained the price for about a week, so now, this week it’s skyrocketed,” said Faizal Junus, the owner of Fredie’s Fantastic Fishhouse in Halifax.
Faizal Junus is the owner of Fredie's Fantastic Fishhouse in Halifax.
Ella MacDonald/Global News
The restaurant, which is now in its 20th year, is known for its fresh haddock and reasonable prices. But Janus says what used to cost $6 a pound a couple years ago is now going for $15 to $35.
“The cost profit margin is very thin now, it’s almost gone. So do we keep the same price, or do we raise the price?” We have to raise the price. But I want to keep it reasonable,” he said.
“I’m going to have a staff meeting to see what we should do … some of them have been here like 15 years or more. So I just want to get their input.”
Willman’s Fish and Chips is in the same boat.
The Halifax restaurant has been serving fish and chips to hungry customers for 80 years. Owner Lucien Nehme says a jump in supply costs has inevitably forced them to raise prices.
“It’s very hard when I see them paying this price, and I must put the price up. For this reason, I don’t know how we’re going to continue,” said Nehme.
“It’s not only the seafood, everything’s going up: the oil, propane, insurance, property tax.”
He hopes government will step in, or else he’s worried about how the end of tourist season will affect small businesses like his.
“They have to think about Nova Scotian people — there is a lot of family, they come here,” he said.
“I look at the cash register. Its $85 for three two-piece fish and chips, like how are they going to afford it?”
Tragically Hip mural being painted in downtown Kingston
Kaytlyn Poberznick / Global News
A new three-storey mural celebrating The Tragically Hip is taking shape in downtown Kingston as the city prepares to mark the 10th anniversary of the band’s final hometown concert.
Kingston artist Aaron Forsyth is leading the project, which features the late Gord Downie and aims to commemorate one of the city’s most iconic bands.
“It’s an honour to have that opportunity,” Forsyth said. “It’s nerve-racking because I want other people to take pride in it — not just Kingstonians, but fans of the band and the music. Knowing their friends and family will see it, or even the band members themselves.”
The mural, located off Wellington Street, is part of a broader celebration of The Tragically Hip’s legacy.
Moira Demorest, music officer with Tourism Kingston, said the project is intended to recognize both the band’s impact and the city’s thriving music culture.
“This was a time to celebrate the band, celebrate their legacy, but also to talk about the continuing music scene that is forever evolving, forever Hip in Kingston,” said Demorest.
Tourism Kingston also said bringing the mural to life required collaboration among several community partners.
“We wanted to have something that was downtown and work with partners at the DBIA-Downtown Kingston, the City of Kingston and Caraco to help donate the wall so that it could be utilized,” she said.
The scale of the mural has also required a team effort from the artist involved.
“It’s a huge wall, so it’s a huge project,” Forsyth said. “I had to assemble a team so we could take it on, and even just operating the large lifts requires people with that experience.”
The mural is expected to be completed by the end of July, weather permitting, in time for events marking the 10th anniversary of The Tragically Hip’s farewell concert in the city.
Ad Choices
