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A freezing rain warning now covers a significant portion of eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, with Environment Canada saying a “prolonged period” of freezing rain, potentially lasting up to 24 hours, could affect the region this week.

An orange warning for freezing rain has been issued, which means a high level of impact.

Between 10 and 20 millimetres of freezing rain and ice buildup is expected, according to the weather warning.

“How you can prepare: Ensure your cell phones and power banks are fully charged. Check your emergency kit: Make sure you have flashlights, fresh batteries, and a 72-hour supply of water and non-perishable food.”

So far, he’s made two brief appearances on Apple’s TikTok account. The first was on a TLDR video showcasing the Neo’s specs, while the second glimpse was captured by X user @m2macmini during a TikTok livestream called “Matcha Break with MacBook Neo.” In the video still, he’s seen working at a tiny desk with an even tinier MacBook Neo, drinking a cup of matcha. Since TikTok livestreams disappear immediately after the stream ends, we’ll have to wait until Apple runs another video featuring the little Happy Mac if we ever want to see him in action again.

Canada’s first-ever hardware hackathon for high schoolers took place Saturday at the University of Ottawa.

Nearly 100 students from across Ottawa and Montreal had 12 hours to build physical hardware projects from scratch for the first time.

The event, known as Catalyst, hosted by Redshifted, encouraged students to get off screens and work with their hands to build innovative hardware projects.

Students got to take part in engaging hardware workshops for beginners and intermediate builders.

Organizers say hardware is one of those areas where there’s almost no community for young people.

The event was free, ensuring all students get to participate.

“The hardware costs a lot, which is why we’re excited to bring this to participants for free so that anybody without a financial barrier can join and build hardware projects,” Han added.

I’m designing a Villager trading hall meant to host about 100-140 Villagers. How far would I need to locate my breeder and/or iron farm from messing with each other?

Apple Music is rolling out a new metadata system called Transparency Tags, which indicates when AI has been used in the creation of music hosted on the platform.

The system covers four categories including artwork, track, composition (lyrics), and music video. Labels and distributors can begin applying the tags immediately. Apple describes the tags as optional for now, noting that if omitted, no AI is assumed.

Apple said it defers to content providers to determine what qualifies as AI-generated, and that it treats the tags similarly to genres, credits, and other existing metadata. The company describes it as a first step toward industry-wide transparency around AI-generated music.

With Apple's tags, there isn't a visible enforcement or cross-verification process in place. The system is completely voluntary, or at least it is for now. Whether labels and distributors will actually use it remains to be seen.

Featured guests include voice actors Anne Yatco, Griffin Burns, Paul Castro Jr., Risa Mei, and music group Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da.

From the program description:

In Spring 2026, the City will offer 2,400 free trees on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration will open in two stages to prioritize planting where it is needed most, based on the City’s Tree Equity Analysis.

• March 2: Registration opens for residents in wards that contain a Priority Area for Tree Planting. This includes Wards 7, 10, 11, 14, 16, 18, 24. Use this tool to find your Ward.
• March 9: Registration opens to residents from all wards across Ottawa.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/24650125

Because nothing says "fun" quite like having to restore a RAID that just saw 140TB fail.

Western Digital this week outlined its near-term and mid-term plans to increase hard drive capacities to around 60TB and beyond with optimizations that significantly increase HDD performance for the AI and cloud era. In addition, the company outlined its longer-term vision for hard disk drives' evolution that includes a new laser technology for heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), new platters with higher areal density, and HDD assemblies with up to 14 platters. As a result, WD will be able to offer drives beyond 140 TB in the 2030s.

Western Digital plans to volume produce its inaugural commercial hard drives featuring HAMR technology next year, with capacities rising from 40TB (CMR) or 44TB (SMR) in late 2026, with production ramping in 2027. These drives will use the company's proven 11-platter platform with high-density media as well as HAMR heads with edge-emitting lasers that heat iron-platinum alloy (FePt) on top of platters to its Curie temperature — the point at which its magnetic properties change — and reducing its magnetic coercivity before writing data.

The Ottawa Police Service is reminding drivers that telling an officer “I thought I was doing 150” will not overturn a stunt driving charge on Highway 417.

The police Road Safety and District Traffic Unit said an officer observed a driver going 164 km/h on Highway 417 at Carp Road on Monday.

"Dear Upstairs Neighbors" is a short animated film previewing at Sundance Film Festival.

It's a story about noisy neighbors that was crafted by our Google DeepMind team of Pixar alums, an Academy Award winner, researchers, engineers, and more.

In creating this film, our 45-person crew developed new Al capabilities specifically for filmmakers, and we look forward to releasing the film soon! Learn more at:

https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/google-deepmind/dear-upstairs-neighbors/

The Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum will cut 67 positions over the next three years as part of the federal government’s comprehensive expenditure review and to address its own “structural deficit.”

Spokesperson Avra Gibbs-Lemay confirms to CTV News Ottawa the museums’ permanent workforce will be reduced from 371 to 304 employees.

The museums of history and war are the only federal museums in the national capital region that have confirmed they will need to cut positions as part of the comprehensive expenditure review. 

The Canadian Museum of Nature will not be required to cut staff.

A spokesperson for Ingenium said there are no planned job cuts at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, and Canada Science and Technology Museum.

According to a spokesperson, the National Arts Centre was exempted from the comprehensive expenditure review.

Plans are underway to celebrate the city’s 200th anniversary and include a special Ottawa Bluesfest concert with a strong lineup and reduced ticket prices. 

“Ottawa’s 200th anniversary is a chance to showcase to people visiting Ottawa who we are as a city – this is a destination that is creative, collaborative, and welcoming. Working with the City, festivals, Indigenous and community partners, we’re empowering projects that showcase Ottawa’s character and hospitality across every ward, throughout all seasons, and with the diversity of voices that weave together to make the fabric of Ottawa […]”