General
The ‘Delete’ Button Is a Lie: A Canadian’s Guide to AI Data Retention
When you hit “delete” on a conversation with ChatGPT or Gemini, you likely expect it to vanish. In reality, that data often enters a digital limbo—accessible to the provider for 30 days, three years, or even seven years for certain safety-classifier metadata, depending on the fine print you didn’t read.
For paid subscribers, the assumption of privacy is dangerous. While corporate “Team” and “Enterprise” plans typically offer stronger contractual controls (including training restrictions and admin-managed retention), “Pro” and “Plus” users are frequently treated as consumers with slightly better perks, not better privacy.
The Most Useful Stocking Stuffer You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Nothing deflates a holiday moment faster than a dying phone. One minute you are navigating to a family gathering or lining up a photo of an ugly sweater contest; the next, a low-battery warning takes centre stage. We rely on our phones for everything, yet routinely overlook the one accessory that keeps them running.
This holiday season, skip the novelty gifts. A portable battery pack may not look festive, but it is one of the few stocking stuffers that remains genuinely useful long after the decorations come down.
Holiday Gift Guide: The Mogics Super Bagel
Those who know me know I am a geek about many things: security, tech, bags and everyday carry (EDC). Being a geek means I own a remarkable amount of EDC gear.
Because of this, friends regularly ask me for holiday gift ideas, knowing I spend thousands of dollars every year on gear looking for the best. I thought it would be fun to use this space to share some of those ideas with a wider audience.
Holiday Gift Guide: The Gear Aid Heroclip
Those who know me know I am a geek about many things: security, tech and bags. Being a geek means I spend more time than I would like to admit reading about materials, designs and features.
Because of this, friends regularly ask me for holiday gift ideas, knowing I spend thousands of dollars every year on gear looking for the best. I thought it would be fun to use this space to share some of those ideas with a wider audience.
To be clear: I bought everything I talk about with my own money. Nothing in these posts is sponsored, there is no exchange of value and I get nothing for mentioning any products or services here.
Improving AI Outcomes Through Better Prompting
AI is becoming integral to how many of us work, but too often the results still feel generic or misaligned. A small shift in how we prompt these systems can dramatically improve the quality, clarity and usefulness of their responses.
By asking the AI to seek clarification before answering, we eliminate assumptions and get far stronger outputs.
Lost Bags Are Rare: The Data That Proves Your Luggage Is Safe
The Truth About Lost Bags: Why Your Luggage Is Probably Fine
We have all seen the viral videos: mountains of lonely suitcases piled up at Heathrow or Pearson, looking like the aftermath of a luggage apocalypse. We have read the horror stories on social media and felt that familiar knot of anxiety at the baggage carousel. Will it appear? Or is it gone forever?
Black Friday Shopping: What You Need to Know About Price Manipulation
With Black Friday approaching, many of us are looking for deals online. However, it’s important to understand a common retail tactic that can make deals look better than they actually are.
Understanding X's "About this Account" Feature: A Fact-Based Overview
In mid-October 2025, X’s head of product Nikita Bier announced the platform would test a new transparency tool called “About this Account.” The feature began rolling out to users around Nov. 21, 2025, though visibility has been inconsistent since launch.
AI as Alien Intelligence: Kevin Kelly’s Radical Reframing
The co-founder of Wired argues we must stop viewing artificial intelligence as human-like and treat it as something fundamentally other
Kevin Kelly has earned a reputation for remarkably accurate technology forecasts over his five-decade career.
In the early 1990s, when the internet was a curiosity for academics and hobbyists, Kelly predicted it would transform how we live, work and communicate. While critics dismissed him then, his forecasts now appear pedestrian in their accuracy.
Today, at 73, Kelly remains one of the most influential technology thinkers of the past four decades. In 1993, he co-founded Wired — arguably the definitive publication on digital culture — and served as its executive editor for seven years. He currently holds the playful but fitting title of “senior maverick” at the magazine.
The iPad's "Limitation" That's Actually Its Greatest Strength
For years, tech reviewers have lamented that Apple’s iPad Pro is being “held back” by its software. The hardware is absurdly powerful—M4 chips that rival desktop processors, gorgeous displays, ample RAM—yet iPadOS will not let you do half the things macOS allows. No proper Terminal access. No kernel extensions. Apps locked in their sandboxes like well-behaved children at daycare.
The critics say Apple is artificially limiting the iPad to protect the Mac’s position in the lineup. I think they have it backwards.
What if iPadOS is not holding the iPad back—it is holding the fort? What if those “limitations” are not bugs but features? What if the iPad Pro is actually the more secure computing platform precisely because it refuses to give you enough rope to get yourself into serious trouble?
Let me make the case that the iPad’s locked-down nature is not a weakness—it is a masterclass in security design.
Comprehensive analysis of leading AI models in 2025: strengths, weaknesses and standout capabilities
The artificial-intelligence landscape in 2025 has evolved into a highly competitive arena where numerous models offer distinct advantages for specific use cases. This article examines publicly available AI models shaping the industry, summarizing where each excels and where limitations remain.
Lithium Batteries at 35,000 Feet: What Really Changed in the Past Year
Airlines have lived with lithium batteries for years. They power every phone, laptop and tablet on board. But when they fail, they overheat and burn in ways that are difficult to control in a confined cabin. Recent data and a string of high-profile incidents show this is no longer a theoretical risk.
The portable devices travellers carry onto planes every day have become an unexpected safety hazard in commercial aviation. Lithium-ion battery incidents have reached record levels, prompting airlines worldwide to implement unprecedented restrictions and forcing travellers to reconsider how they pack and use their electronic devices.
Internet Speed Tests: Four Tools That Matter and When to Use Them
Understanding how your Internet service performs day to day can help explain streaming hiccups, choppy video calls or sluggish cloud activity. Speedtest by Ookla, FAST.com, Cloudflare Speed Test and OpenSpeedTest each measure different aspects of real-world performance and use different test paths. Running more than one can offer a clearer, more complete picture of your connection.
Is NordVPN a trustworthy VPN? Independent audits and real-world use
NordVPN is one of the most widely recognized virtual private network (VPN) services. Its no-logs claims have been independently verified five times, most recently by Deloitte Audit Lithuania in late 2024. The service operates on RAM-only servers and uses high-capacity ports across its network. NordVPN is part of Nord Security, valued at roughly US$3 billion as of September 2023. For people looking for a privacy-focused VPN with modern infrastructure, NordVPN warrants serious consideration.
Stay prepared while you fly: a knife-free EDC kit for modern travel
Air travel introduces a unique constraint for anyone who relies on tools: you can’t bring a knife, and a traditional multitool is almost guaranteed to be confiscated. But that doesn’t mean you need to travel unprepared. By building a compact, knife-free everyday carry kit made of single-purpose tools, you can handle common issues at the gate, in the cabin, or on arrival — without raising concerns at security.
The advantage of this modular approach is simple. If a security officer questions one item, only that item is removed. With a multitool, one decision by an agent wipes out your entire capability.
Canada's Tech Sector: Beyond Catch-Up
The numbers tell a story Silicon Valley can’t ignore: Canada’s tech corridor is no longer just catching up — it’s carving out its own category.
When Geoffrey Hinton collected the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, the University of Toronto professor emeritus didn’t just validate decades of artificial intelligence research. He spotlighted what industry data now confirms: Toronto has become North America’s No. 3 tech market, with Waterloo Region joining the continent’s top tier; Montreal strengthens Canada’s position through AI research dominance.
DuckDuckGo browser: privacy by default
In an online landscape often dominated by surveillance-based business models and data extraction, DuckDuckGo Browser stands out as a privacy-first alternative that prioritises simplicity and protection. For users seeking straightforward privacy without complex configurations, DuckDuckGo delivers — though its architecture and feature set differ from traditional browsers.
The Uncomfortable Truth About China’s AI Dominance: How a Decade of Strategic Planning Is Reshaping the Technology Landscape
Let me be direct: while Silicon Valley has been celebrating incremental improvements and debating work-life balance, China has been executing a coordinated, decade-long strategy to dominate artificial intelligence — and it’s working. DeepSeek’s January 2025 breakthrough was not a fluke. It was the predictable result of national planning, structural advantages and a fundamentally different approach to technology.
Orion Browser by Kagi: Privacy-centred performance
In a browser landscape dominated by data-hungry Chromium derivatives and restrictive ecosystems, Orion Browser by Kagi stands out as a WebKit-based alternative that prioritises verifiable zero telemetry, built-in content blocking, and native performance on Apple devices. For privacy-conscious users seeking Safari’s efficiency with Firefox’s extensibility and Chrome’s compatibility, Orion delivers—though not without trade-offs.
Helium Browser: privacy-centred Chromium, without the extras
Helium is a new, open-source Chromium browser that ships with strong privacy defaults and a lean interface. It removes Google services, blocks trackers and third-party cookies by default, and avoids built-in sync and password vaults to keep the attack surface small. For security-minded users, it offers a disciplined starting point with fewer emissions out of the box.