We hear plenty of stories about hackers getting into computer systems and devices—viruses, man-in-the-middle attacks, DDos storms, malware, ransomware and the like. But would you believe the first electronic hack happened in 1903? Guglielmo Marconi, the father of modern radio, had come up with the concept of point-to-point wireless radio transmissions.

“By tuning a transmitter to a specific frequency,” he said, “you can securely reach another party who has tuned to exactly the same frequency.”

This greatly annoyed telegraph companies, who didn’t want to be put out of business. One of these telegraph operators, a guy named Nevil Maskelyne, heard about a demonstration Marconi was giving. Using his own transmitter, he hacked into Marconi’s test broadcast, spelling out the word “rats” over and over in Morse code. Then he keyed in a rude limerick that began “There was a young fellow from Italy, who diddled the public quite prettily.”

I guess this makes Maskelyne the first-ever black hat hacker.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

For years, the top weekly music magazine in the UK was Melody Maker. Since the only radio came from the BBC, fans of pop and rock relied on The Maker for news on what was hot and new and worth listening to. Anyone who appeared on the cover suddenly sold hundreds of thousands of records.

Melody Maker also covered plenty of artists from North America and had an office and stringers in the US. But in the mid-70s, the pound fell sharply against the US dollar, forcing Melody Maker to close its American operations and to scale back its coverage of music on this side of the Atlantic.

For content, they redirected their music coverage to what was happening at home in the UK. And the mid-70s, that was punk. Melody Maker joined their rival, The New Musical Express, in highlighting and reinforcing the presence of this new music, which went a long way to making it successful with the public.

Weird how things happen sometimes, huh?

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

From the moment Edison unveiled his talking machine in August 1877, there was a race to create recordings with greater fidelity and realism. The technology led us from wax cylinders to rotating discs to vinyl records and compact discs.

But then something weird happened around 2000: consumers started becoming apathetic when it came to high-fidelity music. Why? The MP3. The convenience digital files offer trumped their inferior sound. But leading up to the rise of the MP3, dozens of companies kept pushing for ever-better-sounding music technologies.

Sony had the MiniDisc, which wasn’t much a hit outside of Japan. There was Super Audio CD, which was a joint venture of Sony and Philips, the people behind the original CD. It was up against HD-CD, which eventually became the property of Microsoft. But none of these new physical formats mattered.

Digital files killed them all.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

For Clément Badra, accessible parking isn’t just a convenience — it’s a necessity.

The Montreal man, who lives with a spinal cord injury, says when drivers park in reserved spaces or too close to his adapted vehicle, even simple outings can become difficult.

“What happens is that I won’t be able to get in my car, so that means I have to wait for the person to get back to their car, and I don’t know how long it’s gonna take,” said Badra. “So it creates frustration because you’re not free with your time.”

At Marche Central on Tuesday, advocates, city officials and mobility organizations gathered to raise awareness about the importance of accessible parking spaces and why it’s crucial not to park too close to the space so that wheelchair users can safely enter and exit their cars.

“It’s not just for two minutes that we go in, buy something at the corner store, come out and it’s fine,” said Gerlando Guarraggi, borough councillor in Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles. “The space is reserved there for those people. I think we could take the extra 30 steps and park a little bit further.”

The reminder comes as thousands of tickets continue to be handed out each year.

Officials say roughly 14,000 fines are issued annually in Montreal for illegally using accessible spots, carrying penalties of more than $400.

“People don’t mean to do bad, but the reality is when you don’t know other people’s reality, you don’t pay attention to it,” said Badra. “So that’s why raising awareness is important.”

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The B.C. Supreme Court has awarded a woman $210,000 in damages more than a decade after she was sexually assaulted by a man who claimed he suffered from “sexsomnia” as part of his defence.

The court ruling, released this week but handed down in May, says Karl Antonius was convicted in 2020 of sexual assault for having unprotected sex with a woman after she fell asleep in his bed in 2015.

It says Antonius was sentenced to two years less a day, and the woman was told later that he’d been let out on parole after serving just over seven months.

She sued Antonius in 2022, but the ruling says he never responded to the lawsuit and she won a default judgment against him in May 2024.

Justice Warren Milman has now awarded the woman $200,000 in non-pecuniary damages, and just over $10,000 for special damages and costs of future care.

Antonius claimed during his criminal trial that he’d had prior incidents involving parasomnia, or involuntary acts committed while asleep.

His defence lawyer in the criminal proceeding did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The civil ruling says the assault irreparably destroyed the victim’s trust in people and led her to become isolated, fearful, angry and depressed as she struggled with feelings of “self-blame and self-hatred.”

Antonius was a mining executive at the time he faced the charge, and Vancouver-based Boreal Metals Corp. announced he’d been terminated for cause as president of the company in November 2019.

The company said in a statement at the time that “Antonius failed to make timely and adequate disclosure to the company’s board of directors of his role in court proceedings in British Columbia that have been the subject of media reporting.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A wildfire has broken out in B.C.’s Swede Creek Fire Area, prompting an evacuation alert for thousands of hectares southwest of Prince George.

The alert, issued by the Cariboo Regional District Emergency Operations Centre, covers 17,894 hectares and 22 homes or structures.

Everyone in the evacuation alert area should prepare to leave their home or property at short notice, if required.

The Cariboo Regional District issued guidelines on how to prepare for an evacuation order:

• Have a plan to transport all family members or co-workers outside of the area, should the area be brought under evacuation order.
• Make grab-and-go bags for each member of your household to keep essential items readily available for a quick departure. Pack clothing, ready-to-eat food, toiletries, medications, eyeglasses, valuable papers (i.e. insurance), immediate care needs for dependents and, if you choose, keepsakes (photographs, etc.).
• Ensure that any dependents or pets are prepared for departure. Gather comfort items (blankets, stuffed animals, etc.) for your dependents to make an evacuation less stressful. Gather any kennels or leashes to make transportation safe with your pets.
• Move pets and livestock to a safe area if they cannot be evacuated. Ensure water and feed are available.
• Keep the fuel tanks of personal vehicles full in case a new order is issued.
• Ensure that you have accommodation options for your family, if possible. An Evacuee Reception Centre will be made available if required. Homeowner or tenant insurance may provide greater support than ESS will be able to.
• In the event you are evacuated, do not shut off your natural gas. For more information, visit fortisbc.com/forestfires.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Two people reported to have fallen from their paddleboard on Browning Lake have been found deceased.

Squamish RCMP stated in an update on Tuesday that the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team found the two people earlier that day.

RCMP were first called to Browning Lake, within Murrin Provincial Park, on May 30 at 3 p.m. for a report that two paddleboarders had gone into the water and did not resurface.

Multiple agencies responded to assist, including Squamish Search and Rescue, B.C. Conservation Officer Service, Squamish Fire Rescue, BC Emergency Health Services, and RCMP Air One, according to the RCMP.

“We are deeply grateful for the dedicated support and coordinated efforts of our specialized teams and partner agencies who assisted in this search and recovery,” Staff Sgt. Sasha Banks, Operations Commander of the Squamish RCMP, said in a statement.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Restaurants and hospitality operators across British Columbia are welcoming a three-year pilot project from the provincial government to expand liquor purchasing options.

The provincial government announced that under a three-year trial, B.C.’s restaurants, bars and pubs can now buy alcohol directly from B.C. liquor stores and from private liquor stores.

The change allows businesses to buy from stores if they run out of a certain product at a busy time, without having to wait for new supplies from the Liquor Distribution Branch.

“This announcement is a welcome step in the right direction,” said Teri Smith, an executive member of the Business Improvement Areas of British Columbia (BIABC) board.

“For many months, BIABC has joined the hospitality industry in encouraging government to provide restaurants and hospitality operators with more flexibility in how they access product, particularly during times of disruption. We are pleased to see government responding to those concerns.”

Businesses say the new policy will also benefit their customers.

“Formerly we were required to buy cases of six, and unfortunately that just ties up money for the next payroll, marketing your business, working in your community, and so it gives us a lot more freedom to activate our business fully,” Lewis Hart, owner of Laowai and Bagheera in Vancouver.

Darryl Lamb, manager of the Legacy Liquor Store in Vancouver, said this move will also allow for more choice.

“This allows our small independent restaurants to really free up a lot of capital, really free up their ability to offer something different, having every restaurant locked into the government stores with all of the selection of Weiser’s to Crown Royal, now all of a sudden they’re allowed to go to Legacy and get our three hundred whiskies,” he said.

The government says the trial is not expected to affect revenue from liquor sales or any permanent jobs.

It will be re-assessed after the three-year program.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The rise in global fuel prices is now affecting the cost of a BC Ferries ticket.

In a release, BC Ferries says it plans to implement a temporary five per cent fuel surcharge beginning on June 16.

The surcharge will apply across all BC Ferries routes to help manage significant fluctuations in fuel costs over time, according to the organization.

“We know that any added cost matters to our customers, and we don’t take that lightly — especially for the people, communities and businesses that rely on our services every day,” Dallyn Willis, Chief Financial Officer at BC Ferries, said in a statement.

“Like others across the province, we’re feeling the direct financial impact of high global fuel prices. We’ve used the fuel deferral account to absorb those increases for as long as possible, but given the sharp and persistent rise in these costs, we’ve reached a point where a temporary fuel surcharge is needed.

“We’re taking this step to carefully manage those pressures in the most measured, gradual and responsible way possible while fuel prices remain elevated.”

BC Ferries says that since early March, global fuel prices have increased more than 40 per cent and fuel is one of the organization’s largest and most volatile operating costs.

It states in a release that if fuel prices stabilize or decline for a “sustained period,” the surcharge will be reduced or removed.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Nearly a quarter of treated water travelling through pipes below Calgary streets was lost last year due to leaks in the city’s distribution network.

According to an update to the city’s Infrastructure and Planning Committee Tuesday, it’s estimated that 23 per cent of the city’s treated water was lost last year, with water loss has ranging between 20 per cent and 24 per cent between 2019 and 2025.

The City of Calgary determines water loss through the the difference between how much water is treated, and how much is billed through customer meters. However, the estimates’ accuracy is dependent on how well the city can “measure, detect and confirm what’s happening throughout the entire system.”

Ryan Kidd, the city’s deputy director of drinking water, said finding leaks can be challenging.

“A lot of Calgary’s soil is gravelly and porous, so some of those leaks don’t come to surface,” he said. “We have to actively go out and look and listen for those. It can be a pretty significant activity.”

Water loss can be caused by leaks across the city’s distribution network including aging pipes, hydrant leaks, broken valves and as leaks from service lines and joints.

Ward 4 Coun. DJ Kelly said the leakage situation should be treated “as an emergency situation.”

“The reason that number is so high is because we’ve been chronically underinvesting in our water infrastructure… for 15-plus years,” he told reporters.

However, some experts aren’t surprised by the amount of water lost due to the size of Calgary’s water network, which includes more than 5,500 km of pipes and 345,000 service connections.

“Certainly it’s higher than we’d like it to be but people need to keep in mind there tends to be quite a lot of leakage from our water pipes across Canada,” said Kerry Black, a civil engineering professor at the University of Calgary.

“You’ll tend to see 10, 15, 20 per cent depending on the municipality across Canada.”

According to city administration, recent system challenges like the failures along the Bearspaw feeder main “reinforce the need to reduce water loss and strengthen system resilience.”

City administration’s plan, entitled the Accelerated Water Loss Program, aims to reduce water loss in Calgary to 15 per cent by 2030.

The plan includes improved measurement through advanced metering infrastructure and increased system monitoring, as well as expanded leak detection and repair, and increased renewal and preventative maintenance to prevent future leaks.

The goal is to replace 10 km of water main pipe in 2026. That’s up from 7.8 km in 2025, and 3.2 km in 2024.

According to the city’s report, the goal increases to 15 km annually starting in 2027.

“We are certainly committed to increasing our surveying rate and finding and fixing leaks,” Kidd said.

However, city administration noted finding and fixing water loss “takes time, effort and investment,” which is pegged at $342 million in the upcoming four-year budget — double the $168 million allocated in the previous budget.

Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot, who chairs the committee, said council should be looking at “spending more.”

According to Chabot, the price tag to reduce water leaks is “cost avoidance” of having to build a new water treatment plant to create more capacity in the system.

“It’s a lot cheaper for us to reduce our water loss than to build a new water treatment plant,” he said. “For me, it’s a small investment in something that’s going to have a long-term benefit.”

But with hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending already recommended for the upcoming budget, the situation has frustrated some councillors.

“I’m a bit frustrated as a new city councillor,” Ward 9 Coun. Harrison Clark said. “We’re dealing with a lack of investment on a number of fronts and if we just bite the bullet and pay the full cost now, we can catch up somehow. It’s going to be an interesting budget cycle.”

Council will decide on whether to fully fund the program during budget talks in November.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.