Note to readers: This newsletter is taking a break over the holidays. The last newsletter of 2024 will be published on December 16. The first newsletter of 2025 will be published on January 13. | |
In this issue...
• Are you familiar with the gift card scam? Learn more before getting hoodwinked this holiday season!
• Orcas are wearing dead salmon as ghoulish "hats" - and no one can figure out why
• By the numbers X 10 + 1
• This can't be good! "Brain rot" named Oxford's Word of the Year for 2024.
• Give the gift of delicious recipes this Christmas! Buy them now! Acadian Recipes and More - Volumes 1, 2 & 3, and Forgotten Recipes - Volume 1
• The next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Trivia Night will be held on Monday, January 27!
• Christmas Day is on Wednesday, December 25!
• Before you go: 7 things you may have missed in the news
• Enjoy the outdoors with the Greater Moncton Walking Group
... and trivia, quotes and more!
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Are you familiar with the gift card scam? Learn more before getting hoodwinked this holiday season!
This scam has been going on for a few years now - and it always seems to rear its ugly head the most during the holidays when gift card sales boom. When you buy a gift card, it may have been tampered with by scammers who have opened the package and placed their own bar code over the real one, effectively stealing the amount of money you put on the card. Check out the articles below on how to protect yourself and ensure that the gift card you bought will actually be spent by the person you're giving it to.
Article excerpt: "To make this work, criminals typically go to a store, copy the gift card number and bar activation code, then reseal the package before placing it back on the shelf. They may also plaster a fraudulent bar code sticker on the card.
As soon as the card is activated, the money that is added goes directly to the scammer instead of onto the gift card that was just purchased.
To avoid getting duped, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises inspecting a gift card carefully before purchase.
'Run your finger over the card. Does it look like a sticker has been put over the barcode? Does it look like the package was opened and maybe glued back together?' said Melanie McGovern with the BBB.
To further protect yourself from fraud, buy gift cards that are from behind the counter, or sold online, and save a receipt in case there’s a problem.
In Uchida’s case, she was able to file a dispute with Visa and they agreed to give her a replacement $250 gift card. As the replacement card was sent through the mail, Uchida is unsure when she will receive the card due to the ongoing Canada Post strike."
A well-educated consumer is a safe consumer!
Read: Ontario woman "shocked" after unused $250 gift card only contained $1.50. Related: Consumer Matters: How to avoid gift card scams.
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Orcas are wearing dead salmon as ghoulish "hats" - and no one can figure out why
This news story pops up every few years and it always fascinates me - mostly because experts can't figure out exactly why these killer whales are using salmon as hats.
Article excerpt: "In what may seem like a call-back to 1980s whale culture, a resident orca off the coast of Washington state was recently spotted sporting a dead salmon on its head.
The phenomenon was first documented in 1987 when whales from three separate pods were seen wearing salmon on their heads, like a human wears a hat.
But scientists never understood why, and experts are still scratching their heads as they contemplate the most recent incident, documented in October.
The director of the University of British Columbia's Marine Mammal Research Unit, Andrew Trites, said there's no obvious reason for the behaviour.
'Maybe it's to impress another member [of the pod],' he told CBC Radio West guest host Brady Strachan. 'Maybe they just like the smell of dead fish.'
But he and his colleagues suspect it's playfulness.
'It's probably being done by young animals and is probably something [that] others may catch on and do because they're very good at mimicking... in the same way that young kids can pick up tricks from others, sometimes to the disapproval of their parents.'"
Killer whales are known to play, so perhaps there's credence to the theory that they're just trying to have fun. Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the correct one.
Read: Why orcas wear dead salmon as "hats" remains a mystery, scientists say.
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This can't be good! "Brain rot" named Oxford's Word of the Year for 2024.
Ah, social media. You're a wonderful thing, but you're also a terrible thing at the same time. This year, you've caused Oxford University Press to declare "brain rot" as Word of the Year for 2024.
Article excerpt: "'Brain rot' is defined as 'the supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging. Also: something characterized as likely to lead to such deterioration'.
Our experts noticed that 'brain rot' gained new prominence this year as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media. The term increased in usage frequency by 230% between 2023 and 2024.
The first recorded use of 'brain rot' was found in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, which reports his experiences of living a simple lifestyle in the natural world. As part of his conclusions, Thoreau criticizes society’s tendency to devalue complex ideas, or those that can be interpreted in multiple ways, in favour of simple ones, and sees this as indicative of a general decline in mental and intellectual effort: 'While England endeavours to cure the potato rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot - which prevails so much more widely and fatally?'"
A term that has been around since 1854 certainly has a lot of staying power! Different generations have had their own causes of brain rot... and future generations will, as well.
Read: "Brain rot" named Oxford Word of the Year 2024.
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Give the gift of delicious recipes this Christmas! Buy them now! Acadian Recipes and More - Volumes 1, 2 & 3, and Forgotten Recipes - Volume 1
My three volumes of Acadian recipe books (English and French) and Forgotten Recipes - Volume 1 (English only) are out now and make a great Christmas gift. They are available on Amazon Canada, Amazon USA and in some local retail outlets. (Click on the photo for a larger version.)
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The next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Trivia Night will be held on Monday, January 27!
The next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club Trivia Night of the 2024-2025 season will be held at St. Louis Bar & Grill, 1405 Mountain Road, Moncton, on Monday, January 27, beginning at 6:30 p.m. $10 per person (cash only). (Facebook event listing: bit.ly/3Z9PQ3m)
Participants may play as teams or individuals. The winning team gets 50% of the door receipts as their prize.
It is strongly suggested that participants arrive by 5:15-5:30 p.m. for a seat. Trivia begins at 6:30 p.m. sharp and is usually over by 8 p.m. Everyone welcome!
Please note that restaurant reservations are NOT available for this event. First come, first served. Limited seating of approximately 50 guests.
Participants may bring an optional non-perishable food item (box of granola bars, Kraft Dinner, cereal, etc.) for distribution at Krista Richard's Community Sports Program events, of which the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club is a sponsor. Any donations will be gratefully received and provided to Krista for distribution to her program participants (school-aged children from Moncton-area schools).
Since Rotary Trivia Nights began in 2016, the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club has donated more than $20,000 to Atlantic Wellness, Karing Kitchen, Ray of Hope Kitchen, Salvus Clinic, The Humanity Project, BGC Moncton (Moncton Boys & Girls Club), Junior Achievement New Brunswick, Project Linus - Moncton Chapter, Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement New Brunswick, Children's Wish Canada and Krista Richard's Community Sports Program, among others.
The Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club gratefully acknowledges the kind and generous sponsorship of our restaurant partner, St. Louis Bar & Grill.
PLEASE NOTE: There is a no telephone rule at these events. The answers cannot be researched except among discussion with your team members.
The remaining Trivia Night schedule for 2024-2025 is as follows:
• Monday, January 27, 2025
• Monday, February 24, 2025
• Monday, March 24, 2025
• Monday, April 28, 2025
• Monday, May 26, 2025
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Trivia: Did you know?
If telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell had his way, the world would be answering calls by saying "Ahoy" instead of "Hello". In fact, "Hello" was the preferred greeting of fellow inventor Thomas Edison, and that's what ended up being universally adopted as the standard greeting.
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Quotes of note
• 1. “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”
- John Steinbeck (1902-1968), author (see photo)
• 2. "In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy."
- William Blake
• 3. "Winter is a season of recovery and preparation."
- Paul Theroux
• 4. "Snow falling in the middle of a December night will always fill my heart with sweet clarity."
- Novala Takemoto
• 5. "December, being the last month of the year, cannot help but make us think of what is to come."
- Fennel Hudson
• 6. "I heard a bird sing in the dark of December. A magical thing."
- Oliver Herford
• 7. "Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love."
- Hamilton Wright Mabie
• 8. "Who is not a love seeker when December comes? Even children pray to Santa Claus."
- Rod McKuen
• 9. "I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw that my bath toys were a toaster and a radio."
- Joan Rivers
• 10. "You know you're getting old when Santa starts looking younger."
- Robert Paul
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Enjoy the outdoors with the Greater Moncton Walking Group
In December, the group is walking on the Humphrey Brook Trail in the Lewisville area of Moncton from Tuesday, December 3, until Tuesday, December 31. Meet-up is at the bottom of Martin Street. (Participants may park on the street.)
In January, the group will be moving to Mapleton Park from Thursday, January 2, until Thursday, January 30. Meet-up is in the parking lot next to the Rotary Lodge off of Mapleton Road.
The group meets for walks every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. New participants are always welcome! For more information, please contact Wayne Harrigan at 506-386-2187 or via email.
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About this newsletter
Brian Cormier's Weekly Update is distributed weekly from September to June. If you're reading this newsletter online and want to subscribe, please email me, fill out the subscription form on my website, or subscribe via the "Join Our Email List" button at the top of the newsletter (if you're viewing this in a browser.) This newsletter is not published in July and August and on holidays.
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