If you made it to this page, then you already know the importance of tracking your heart rate during workouts. Staying within you target heart rate is essential for getting the most out of your activities, without burning yourself out. The following 3 chest strap heart rate monitors are the best options for just that.
Super comfortable strap and very light main unit. You'll forget you're wearing it.
Compatible with more than 50 other fitness apps on Apple, Android, and Windows.
Built-in memory stores 16 hours of workout data .
Tracks reps for weightlifting, Crossfit, and more.
Outdoor and indoor use. Works on stationary bikes and treadmills.
Real-time data straight to your compatible wearable or device.
Tracks advanced runners stats (only with your phone wirelessly connected).
Waterproof up to 5 meters.
Wahoo Fitness App: While there are some nice features on this app, it's not a complete enough to replace any of the top fitness apps like Fitbit, Apple Health, S Health, Garmin Connect, and Polar Beat. Luckily, it's directly compatible with these and most other fitness apps.
Tough, but not as durable as other chest strap monitors we tested.
Best combination of accuracy, compatibility, battery life, and fit of any chest strap we've tested.
Built-in memory for storage of one workout session.
Nice fitness app, especially if you already have (or plan to get) a Polar fitness tracker or Polar GPS running watch.
Compatibility with Android, Apple, GoPro Hero 4 & 5 action cameras, and most brands of fitness trackers/smartwatches (except Garmin). Additionally, connecting with your GoPro Hero 4 or 5 will allow you to display overlays of your biometric and activity data, directly on your video playback.
Swim-ready; waterproof up to 30 meters.
Real-time heart rate data straight to your compatible wearable or device.
Heavier unit compared to Wahoo Tickr X.
Not compatible with Garmin wearables, except for Fenix 5.
No built-in sensors for advanced runners metrics.
With comparable accuracy to the Wahoo Ticker X, the Polar H10 dropped to #2 because it's a little less comfortable and less compatible. Being waterproof up to 30 meters, this is the best heart rate monitor for swimming AND running.
Advanced running metrics include: Cadence, vertical oscillation, ground contact time, ground contact time balance, stride length, and vertical ratio.
Advanced heart rate variability and features.
Real-time heart rate and running data straight to your compatible Garmin wearable or device.
Just as comfortable as the Wahoo Tickr X.
No built-in memory for workout session storage.
Battery life varies greatly, depending on usage.
Even though it produces the best advanced running metrics out of the 3 straps on this list, it ONLY works with compatible Garmin devices. If you own one of these devices or plan to get one, this will be your best choice. If you already have a Garmin device that ISN'T compatible with the HRM-Run, your best choice will be the Garmin Soft Strap Premium Heart Rate Monitor. The main drawback is that it doesn't collect advanced running metrics like the HRM-Run, so keep that in mind if you're looking for those features. Also, just like the HRM-Run, it doesn't have Bluetooth connectivity.
Garmin currently has the largest selection and some of the best performing trackers and GPS devices, which is the main reasons the HRM-Run made into the top 3. Just like with Apple products, if you go Garmin, you should go all the way for the best overall experience and performance.
For a limited time, the Garmin Forerunner 735XT and Garmin HRM-Run are available in a bundle deal. One of the best combos for more advanced runners, the Forerunner 735XT's built-in GPS and advanced running metric sensors allow you to leave your phone at home, without losing out on any data collection.
If you already have a Garmin or Polar wearable then your best bet is to stick with the same company. The Wahoo Tickr X gets the nod because of the extremely comfortable fit and compatibility with all of the major fitness apps and wearables. The main feature that makes them ALL exceptional is the electrical pulse heart rate sensor technology which is much more accurate than the optical sensors on watches, trackers, and other wearables.


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What is no-fault divorce - and should you wait for a no-fault divorce in the UK?
It's NOT Divorce Day
Thoughts on Good Divorce Week...
All about domicile: what it is, and how to assert it
Divorce | 10 Oct 2011 13
As I mentioned in my post about habitual residence, this blog receives a number of enquiries from people living outside England, enquiring whether it is possible to divorce in England. In that post, I explained that in order to do so, an applicant needs to establish jurisdiction.
One way to establish jurisdiction is via a form of residence in this country, but a major problem is the time frame involved. This is six months if the applicant is domiciled in this country, or twelve months if not.
Many clients are in no immediate position to assert that they have resided in this country for any recent period of time at all.
But there are two other potential avenues, assuming there ever was a connection with England, which allows you to proceed straight away and that is by asserting domicile, in one of two ways.
How to assert domicile
The first method, for European divorces that involve an applicant from an EU signatory country, is under Article 3(1) of Brussels II revised. The drawback is that both parties must be domiciled in this country. If that can be established, no prior period of residence is required.
The second, also outlined under Article 3(1) of Brussels II revised, is a "catch all" or safety net, for an applicant resident outside those EU countries. This method permits a petition to proceed "if no court of a contracting state has jurisdiction under the Council Regulation and either of the parties to the marriage is domiciled in England and Wales on the date when the proceedings are begun, the English court has jurisdiction."
This means that in those non-EU countries, if either one of the parties is domiciled in England and Wales, it is sufficient to found jurisdiction in accordance with Section 5(2)(b) of the Domicile and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1973.
However it is not a free-for-all. There is also a second stage. Even if jurisdiction is established, then the judge must also consider whether the applicant's connection with England and Wales is sufficient for the court to fully exercise its jurisdiction.
The case we are going to look at later in this post is a good example, because it will help readers to consider their own position and what might be required in terms of evidence, if they wish to go down this route.
But what does "domicile" mean?
Domicile differs from nationality, or residence. Domicile is the strongest connection a person can have to his or her country, and is acquired on birth. When born, a child's domicile of origin is the domicile of his father if his parents are married, or his mother if they are not.
In Mark v Mark (2005) UKHL 42, Baroness Hale said:
"Domicile…is a concept of the common law.
"A person must always have a domicile but can only have one domicile at a time. Hence it must be given the same meaning in whatever context it arises."
She added:
"It governs capacity to marry or to make a will relating to moveable property; it is one of the factors governing the formal validity of a will; the domicile of the deceased also governs succession to moveable property and is the sole basis for jurisdiction under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975; legitimacy, to the extent that it is still a relevant concept, is governed by the law of the father's domicile; domicile is one of the bases of jurisdiction, not only in matrimonial causes but also in declarations of status or parentage under the Family Law Act 1976; it is the sole basis of jurisdiction to make an ordinary adoption order under the Adoption Act 1976, s 14, or a parental order under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, s 30. This is not an exhaustive list but it shows the particular importance of domicile as a connecting factor in family law."
A child's domicile of origin remains with him unless a domicile of choice is established. This arises "when a man fixes voluntarily his sole or chief residence in a particular place with an intention of continuing to reside there for an unlimited time", as Lord Justice Buckley outlined in IRC v Bullock [1976] 1 WLR 1178.
Domicile of choice
So, in English law you are born with a domicile of origin determined by your parents. But you can change your domicile to a domicile of choice. Sometimes people do so intentionally, for example by advising Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs that they are no longer domiciled in this country. Sometimes they do so by their actions. The taxman is wise to this. So there are a number of tests to determine if a change of domicile has really happened, before HMRC will give up on the tax.
So even though some parties may say that a domicile of origin has been changed one of choice, legally they may be found not to have done so.
The classic definition of domicile of choice is contained in the case Udny v Udny [2001] 1 FLR 921, which was decided in 1869. In that case, it was said:
"Domicile of choice is a conclusion or inference which the Law derives from the fact of a man fixing voluntarily his sole or chief residence in a particular place, with an intention of continuing to reside there for an unlimited time.
"To acquire a domicile of choice, a person must reside in a country with the fixed intention of settling there and making it his or her sole or principal home for an indefinite period. Residence simply means 'physical presence in a country as an inhabitant of it'.
"Having acquired a domicile of choice, a person retains it until it is abandoned. Once abandoned, it is possible to acquire a new one. But if there is a hiatus, the domicile of origin revives.
"Abandonment only takes place when the person has left the country with no further intention of ever residing there again."
If it can be established there is an intention to return to this country, for example, this may affect the decision. At Stowe Family Law we once had a case in which the parties had reserved burial plots in England for themselves, although they had moved overseas. When the wife wished to divorce it was a strong factor – if not the only one – to indicate that neither party had lost their domicile of origin.
Domicile and M v M
In the case of M v M [2010] EWHC 982, domicile of choice was considered in some detail. In this case, a wife issued a petition asserting jurisdiction because of her English domicile only. But her husband objected and the two stage process was undertaken by the court. Interestingly it was not the wife who had to prove her domicile, but her husband.
Mrs Justice Baron observed:
"The burden of proving a change of domicile lies on the party who asserts it. The standard of proof is the balance of probabilities. And cogent and clear evidence is required to show that the balance of probabilities has, 'been tipped' whether the issue is the acquisition or abandonment of a domicile of choice."
Although the husband did not dispute that her original domicile of origin was English because her father was English, he argued that the wife had lost her domicile of origin and acquired a Danish domicile of choice.
But had she? This ultimately depends on the facts of each case which have to be considered in meticulous detail.
The family had spent four years in Denmark, which is not a signatory to the EU Council regulation. They had assets there (and none in England) and their children were of Danish nationality. Despite this, the court considered that the wife did not have the intention to remain in Demark indefinitely, and so held that that Denmark was not her domicile of choice.
The judge then went on to consider whether the court should nevertheless exercise its jurisdiction, applying the second stage of the test. Again, she pointed out that "the burden of proving that the balance of fairness requires a stay rests with the husband in this case for it is his application. It is not for him simply to show that England is not the natural or appropriate forum for the trial, but he must establish that there is another available forum which is clearly or distinctly more appropriate than the English forum."
Mrs Justice Baron then followed Lord Goff of Chieveley in the House of Lords case of De Dampierre v De Dampierre in 1988 when he stated
"It is, desirable to consider the meaning of the expression "the balance of fairness" No doubt there are circumstances when it can plainly be perceived that it is more fair that proceedings should proceed in foreign jurisdiction than in this country. But experience has shown that there are difficulties. First, there are factors which cannot be evenly weighed. For one class of factors may be simply relevant as connecting the dispute with a particular forum whereas another class of factors (which may embrace the former) may point to injustice arising if the dispute is remitted to that forum. It is necessary, therefore, so to structure the inquiry as to differentiate between these two classes of factor, and to decide how each should be approached in relation to the other. Second, a factor may be such that its advantage to one party may be counterbalanced by an equal disadvantage to the other and a decision has to be made how such factors should be taken into account in considering "the balance of fairness" between the parties."
Mrs Justice Baron, on the balance of fairness test, permitted the applicant wife to proceed in England. The judge stated: "When this case commenced and I read the written material, I thought that Denmark was a distinctly possible venue, but, as the case unfolded and the oral evidence emerged, it became abundantly clear the balance of fairness including convenience between these parties made this jurisdiction the more potent destination".
So, if you are overseas and feeling despondent, what about asserting yours or your spouse's English domicile, and letting your spouse argue the balance of fairness test against you… in England?
Professor Rebecca Bailey Harris has today given the firm a talk entitled "The New EU Maintenance Regulation" ( Council Regulation (EC)no4/2009) which came into force on 18th June 2011 and which deals with jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and cooperation in matters relating to maintenance obligations.
In so far as it relates to jurisdiction by virtue of the sole domicile of one party, as referred to above, there may be a problem obtaining a financial settlement if it also includes a maintenance element pursuant to the brand new Article 3 (d) (and the reference to nationality should be read as domicile for England) but as it is a new provision, there is no case law on the subject. The safer option might be to apply for a capital only type settlement with no element of maintenance contained within it.
This is a highly specialist area. I am alerting readers to it, but always, please, take legal advice.
Author: Marilyn Stowe
The founder of Stowe Family Law, Marilyn Stowe is one of Britain's best known divorce lawyers. She retired from Stowe Family Law in 2017.
Domicile and jurisdiction « Untouched Smile | Care Your Child says:
[…] Domicile and jurisdiction is a post from: Marilyn Stowe Family Law and Divorce Blog […]
Ivich says:
I really enjoyed reading your blog! And I would really appreciate if you could give any information about following:
In the country I live in, the concept of domicile is similar: a place where one person is living + intention to live there permanently. But, this two elements are not sufficient – it must be registered within the Ministry of Interior . Without that registration, no one can prove it`s domicile by any other prof and that person is, in practice, without domicile, even if he/she spent whole life at one place. And that persons can not obtain ID, vote, exercise rights to social care… So, my question is following: is it obligatory to register domicile in English law? Can absence of "official address" (or absence of official certificate on domicile) prevent someone (who is domestic national) from access to basic rights i.e. health care?
Thank you very much for your time!
Marilyn Stowe says:
Ivich
Thanks very much for writing in. Domicile is a peculiar English concept. It is not necessary to register domicile. A domicile of origin is acquired on birth and follows the father's domicile unless there is no father in which case it is the mother.
Clive Meadows says:
I have lived in Asia for 22 years, not been resident in the UK for tax purposes for the same time.
I am keen to avoid inheritance tax on my overseas assets.
If i give up UK domicile would this help? How do i do it?
What do I lose by giving up UK domicile?
Do you have any references to help with these questions?
Thank-you for your advice.
Michael Boshell says:
Hi there, I have just applied for a divorce in a UK court, but the petition has been rejected on the grounds of domicile. I am currently living in the UAE, and my wife is living in Spain. She was living with me in the UAE up until October 2011 when she decided to leave me and go back to Spain. My wife is Spanish and I am British. The district judge has said that I cannot be domiciled in the UK if I am living in the UAE. I have spoken to the court, and they have suggested that I send in a letter to the judge explaining my situation. My situation is that I am here on a 3 year contract with a 3 year visa. Once my contract is up and my visa expires, I have no right to be here. I have to leave the country. I have every intention of returning to the UK. The court had said that this might sway the judge. What do you think?
Mike Boshell
Anna Santos says:
Dear Sirs
My husband and I are Spanish and married in Barcelona in 1999. In 2011 we moved to the UK and been living separeted over a year. We have two daughters that were born in Barcelona – Spain.
We are not sure though if we can formalize divorce in Spain if the same is agreed by both parties or we have to do it in the UK where we both have our domicile.
Can we apply jurisdiction in Spain although we now live in England but with uncertainty about the future residence if England or Spain in my case
Whether you can get a divorce in Spain is a question of Spanish law. But if you can it will be recognised here as you are Spanish citizens.
Thank you very much for this article. I must congratulate you on a very precise and particularly informative article, far more so than the others I have read. It helped clarify the status of domicile with more substance (judges rulings etc) than the vagueness of other articles.
I would be most grateful if you be able to express a comment on this general domicile issue.
Recognising the complexity of establishing domicile, in the event of a UK marriage (wife is a Filipina) where husband and wife are 5 years separated and both currently living in the Philippines, could a judge refuse a divorce on domicile grounds for the UK national husband, thus rendering him unable to get divorced as the Philippines doesn't formally recognise divorce?
In other words accepting that the husband may not have the intention CURRENTLY to return to UK, is it possible that a judge may deem him domiciled in the Philippines?
Thank you sincerely for any guidance/comment you may feel able to make on this point; much appreciated.
Further to my last post, I feel I may have inadvertently and incorrectly implied that the husband is not considering returning to the UK at all.
I should have said that the husband does not intend to return to the UK in the immediate future, but intends to in due course (as he has children and grandchildren in the UK).
Pauline oflynn says:
Under Irish Supreme Court ruling2015 the law stated that foreign divorce granted pre 1986 would not be recognised in Ireland unless one party was domiciled at the time proceedings were issued. I was married in Ireland in 1969, we then lived in uk until 1977 when we sold our house and returned to Ireland.The marriage broke down and the husband went back to uk in 1979. In 1982 he filed for divorce. He bought a house in uk 1984 and remarried in 1985. I remained in Ireland and I can now ask the Irish court to not recognise the divorce as I believe he wasn't domiciled there in 1982. Does anyone have any experience of this?
can you please help my partner was married and divcorced in the uk he was divorced in 1981 he returned to Ireland 5 years ago I am a widow we had planned to marry in march but have been refused on grounds of domicile he has a full uk pension which proves he worked there for over 40 years we are both pensioners we where told to get a affidavit which cost 100 euro sent in any paperwork that connected him to the uk what else can we do we are at a loss as we have never heard of this before there where no children to the maeeiage so he doesn't know where his x wife is now please help
as in above
Anathi Bali says:
Thandi was born in 1980 in South Africa. In 2003, she married Willem in Thailand while on vacation for two weeks. He was at the time domiciled in Australia. She moved to Australia and lived there for 5 years. She was planning on living there indefinitely. Whilst in England on business, Willem decides he wants to divorce Thandi. Thandi decides to stay in England for a while, after which she plans to go to South Africa to reside there permanently. Willem proceeds to file for divorce while still in England. He sends his application to the Cape Town high court claiming that Cape Town is the place Thandi would like to settle at indefinitely and as such it is the Cape Town high court that has the jurisdiction to hear the matter. In the alternative, he wants her original domicile to be revived. So now the legal question is: which court has jurisdiction to hear the matter?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Concert at the Creek featuring Heather Rogers!
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The clash of the media barons: Inside Jordan Bitove and Paul Rivett's battle to control Torstar
The Toronto Star has long struggled to resolve the competing realities of profit versus principles. This ever-present tension lingers as Jordan Bitove turns a new page at the helm of the storied publication
Joe Castaldo
Letters of the Toronto Star sign at One Yonge Street are removed from the building in late December.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
Shortly after Jordan Bitove and Paul Rivett bought the Toronto Star two years ago, they moved into an office at the newspaper's headquarters that provided a view of Lake Ontario below. It had once been occupied by John Honderich, the bow-tied former editor and publisher, who died this year at age 75. The newsroom was deserted owing to the pandemic, but Mr. Bitove and Mr. Rivett shared the space and installed two standing desks. The act was symbolic, intentional or not. Here stood two captains of a storied newspaper, charting a new course, shoulder to shoulder. At a virtual town hall, the company's then vice-chair, David Peterson, couldn't help but remark on it. "There aren't many people who could be in the same office for four months and not fight," he said.
Earlier this year, Mr. Rivett moved out. He decamped to the newsroom, visible for all to see peering over his standing desk, but alone. In retrospect, it was a sign that something wasn't right between him and Mr. Bitove. Almost nobody knew how bad it was until Mr. Rivett went to court this past September seeking to wind up NordStar Capital, the private-equity firm he started with Mr. Bitove, saying the two of them could no longer work together. News of the court application sparked weeks of anxiety at the Toronto Star and Metroland Media Group, which publishes more than 70 community newspapers, as employees stewed over who would ultimately take charge.
That question is now settled: Mr. Bitove took full control of parent company Torstar Corp. last month after a handful of mediation and arbitration sessions, and Mr. Rivett walked away. The more pressing matter is how exactly Mr. Bitove will ensure a profitable future for the Toronto Star and Metroland with a business model that has been upended.
Mr. Bitove declined an interview on these questions and others, but he sent a lengthy statement through communications firm Navigator Ltd. "In the last two years we've seen growth in market share, and in subscription revenue. … We've also made tough but necessary business decisions, like selling underutilized real estate, without harming our newsroom," he said. "As a result, the Toronto Star is once again approaching profitability – a target we have set for this year."
Left unsaid is whether that progress is because of – or in spite of – his partnership with Mr. Rivett. He, too, declined an interview but told The Globe that, "Integrity, kindness, loyalty and honesty are values that are integral to me, and those who know me well know that these guide my relationships and the way I do business."
The original promise of their union was to combine two different skill sets to create something powerful and lead the Toronto Star into a new era. Mr. Rivett once described it as a case of "two plus two equals five." He comes from the school of value investing, the idea of buying into unloved companies with the certainty of seeing potential where no else can. Mr. Bitove, meanwhile, is an extroverted and well-connected scion with a marketing background whose family is known for audacious projects. The two of them were going to turn the paper around ("fix it," they said) by attracting digital subscribers and building new revenue streams, even quixotic ones, like launching an online casino and sportsbook.
What's surprising is how quickly it fell apart. In many ways, they were like infatuated lovers who rushed into marriage. They'd never worked together before – let alone in the news business – but formed an equal partnership that apparently lacked a shotgun clause, a common mechanism in such arrangements. The provision allows one partner to buy out the other, or be bought out themselves, when the relationship breaks down. Their brief stint as joint newspaper barons was rocked by turmoil not only between each other, but with employees, too. (The Globe and Mail spoke to 18 current and former employees, and has granted confidentiality to sources to speak candidly and preserve professional relationships.) In the end, the duo clashed on the most crucial of issues: where to cut costs, where to spend money and who to hire. Perhaps the only thing they're likely to agree on these days is that it would be better if they'd never met.
The Toronto Star newsroom in 2016, in the waning years of John Honderich's time as editor and publisher. The Bitove-Rivett era was meant to be a new start for the paper, which marked its 130th anniversary this year.Glenn Lowson/The Globe and Mail
When Paul Rivett and Jordan Bitove's working relationship collapsed acrimoniously, it began a struggle for control of Torstar Corp., which Mr. Bitove now owns. Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
There was a time when they were just a couple of dads who knew each other through their sons' hockey teams. (Mr. Rivett has three kids, while Mr. Bitove has four.) Trained as a lawyer, the 55-year-old Mr. Rivett came up through the trenches of Bay Street, aided by a keen financial mind. He lives with his wife, who works in the mental-health field, and keeps a honeybee colony on their property. You'd have a hard time finding a picture of him before he purchased Torstar; he prefers to stay out of the spotlight.
That's where Mr. Bitove thrives. At his wedding reception, he slipped away from guests and reappeared in a white polyester suit, cape and wig to ham it up. He and his wife, a former model who runs a clothing boutique, purchased a US$10.8-million mansion in Florida this year, with palm trees drooping over the backyard pool. The 58-year-old is a consummate networker, with a burbling font of emotion. Often during company town halls, he'd get choked up talking about the newspaper, and Mr. Rivett would have to continue.
Still, there was one thing they had in common: for much of their careers, their names had mostly been associated with someone else. Mr. Rivett worked for 17 years at Fairfax Financial Holdings, most recently as president, with founder Prem Watsa, the famed value investor often likened to Warren Buffett. Mr. Bitove, meanwhile, is the youngest of five siblings in a celebrated (and occasionally maligned) business family. His older brother John brought the Toronto Raptors to the city in the 1990s; Jordan, meanwhile, founded an experiential marketing company that worked on Canada's Walk of Fame and other events – not necessarily the kind of venture to make history. But buying the Toronto Star, which traces its roots to 1892 – that's the kind of thing with Bitove written all over it.
Torstar, the parent company, had long been in financial decline, despite the quality of its journalism. Publicly traded shares peaked in 2004, only to crash 99 per cent by May, 2020. Head count has shrunk at the Toronto Star, too, dropping from 610 unionized employees in 2009 to 178 as of September, 2022, according to Unifor. Part of the damage was self-inflicted, such as spending tens of millions on a failed tablet app. More fundamentally, though, the company couldn't escape the forces dragging down many traditional news outlets. Torstar gave away its content as the internet took off, Google and Facebook swallowed up the online ad market and print revenue dwindled. By the time the company realized it had to win over digital subscribers, it was way behind.
At the time, the company was controlled by a voting trust consisting of representatives of five families, each with a connection to the Toronto Star's history. By August, 2019, a year in which Torstar would lose $51.9-million and see revenue slide 12 per cent, the trust was ready to sell.
Mr. Bitove made an unsolicited bid in February, 2020, and met privately with Torstar chair John Honderich. He was bursting with infectious enthusiasm, Mr. Honderich wrote in a posthumous memoir published this year. Mr. Honderich gave him a copy of Humanity Above All, a history of the newspaper, and the next day, Mr. Bitove met with the seven members of the voting trust to make his pitch. He'd stayed up late reading the book, recited his favourite passages, and charmed them with an anecdote about delivering the Star as a kid. Repeatedly, he emphasized his commitment to the Atkinson Principles, a near-religious code guiding the progressive paper's reporting. "We thought he would be the person to take the Star forward and not implement the usual cutting to the bone that destroys a franchise," said Campbell Harvey, a former trustee.
Mr. Rivett left Fairfax that same month but agreed to stay on as its point person on the Torstar sale. Fairfax, after all, was a large shareholder, with a roughly 40-per-cent stake in the company. By April, Mr. Rivett decided instead to partner with Mr. Bitove. Purchasing Torstar would be the completion of a deal neither he nor his old boss, Mr. Watsa, had been able to see through a few years earlier, when Fairfax attempted to buy Torstar. The two sides couldn't agree on how much the company was worth, and talks stalled.
In August, Mr. Bitove and Mr. Rivett triumphed over a rival bid to close the deal, paying just $60-million. Torstar had nearly that much cash on its books and a large stake in VerticalScope Holdings Inc., a digital media company that operates web forums. (That stake would hit $180-million last year, when VerticalScope went public.)
As for Mr. Honderich, he felt he'd passed the newspaper into safe hands. "It was time for someone else to try," he wrote.
John Honderich, shown at his One Yonge Street office in 2016, ceded control of Torstar to Mr. Bitove and Mr. Rivett two years ago. He died this past February at the age of 75. Glenn Lowson/The Globe and Mail
Not everyone was as serene about the transfer of power, and the sale fuelled anxiety at the paper. Here was a Bay Street investor and a rich kid with no experience operating a news company, neither one known for their liberal leanings, who were borrowing tens of millions from Canso Investment Counsel, a major lender to National Post owner Postmedia Network Canada Corp., to complete the purchase. Were they going to kill the Star's progressive political bent? Fire everyone? Sell to Postmedia and then fire everyone?
The new owners tried to head off these concerns. "You can't grow revenue on the back of cuts," Mr. Rivett told the paper in an interview shortly after the deal was announced. They recruited David Peterson, the former Liberal Ontario premier (and long-time Bitove family friend) to serve as vice-chair and presented him as a bulwark against any right-wing pressure. Internally, they built up goodwill. The Toronto Star's internship program returned after it had been slashed to save money, and they hired reporters for the paper's Ottawa bureau and long-neglected business section.
Anyone who saw them witnessed a bromance in full bloom, two guys giddy at the prospect of an adventure. Neither proved to be a passive owner. Mr. Bitove took on the mantle of publisher with an almost theatrical approach. He proudly showed off a vintage Toronto Star sweater during a town hall and spoke of meeting with local leaders in communities where Metroland publishes, talking about how they'd impressed upon him the light journalism shines on issues such as the opioid crisis and homelessness. In a documentary about the Star called Viral News, which was filmed before the split, Mr. Bitove comes off as a man who believes he's found his purpose in life. His children never really understood what he did for work, he says in the film, but that changed when he brought them to the Toronto Star. "The pride that they took in me being the publisher was incredibly powerful," he says.
Mr. Rivett, meanwhile, initially viewed the company as a "big fixer-upper" and took longer to appreciate what a newspaper could do. The moment came during the first year of the pandemic, as seniors died alone and neglected in long-term-care facilities. One Saturday morning, he wrote the first draft of a letter calling on elected officials to address the problem. The final version ran across the newspaper chain in January, 2021, signed by both owners. "This is when the light went on for me that this is more than just a turnaround," he says in the documentary.
Off-camera, tensions were building. Wayne Parrish, Torstar's senior-vice president of editorial, abruptly left the company in January, leaving employees to speculate about his departure. Some of the details are contained in a $1.5-million lawsuit he filed against Torstar the following month. According to the statement of claim, Mr. Rivett allegedly dismissed him for cause but refused to tell him what exactly he'd done wrong. Mr. Parrish later received a letter from Torstar. "You have engaged in conduct and comment which has been disparaging of the leadership of the company," it said, going on to accuse him of acting "in an insubordinate manner." Mr. Parrish, who declined to comment, claims he was let go as a cost-saving measure, and the allegation of cause was a pretext to avoid paying severance.
Torstar, in a statement of defence, alleged that he repeatedly mocked Mr. Rivett's and Mr. Bitove's leadership and journalistic knowledge to other employees, and "worked to establish himself as the 'protector' of journalistic integrity." In a reply, Mr. Parrish said both owners interfered with the Toronto Star's reporting to promote related businesses, according to a court filing. The allegations have not been tested in court.
Mr. Rivett and Mr. Bitove flank other panellists at a Nov. 17 discussion of journalism and democracy.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
Behind the mutual admiration the two owners projected, there was a more complex dynamic developing. In the beginning, Mr. Bitove tended to defer to his partner, perceiving him to be the more experienced operator. But he started to assert himself, particularly as he believed Mr. Rivett made mistakes, according to two sources.
Torstar's efforts to decide on a more powerful content management system (CMS), for example, were anything but straightforward. A CMS is the unglamorous but crucial software for writing, editing and publishing articles. Torstar considered Arc XP, owned by the Washington Post. Mr. Rivett, according to two people familiar with the discussions, balked at the cost and instead pursued a different solution in partnership with another company. His goal was to develop a platform that could be used by other publishers and develop a new revenue stream for Torstar. But after months of talks, it was clear the partner company couldn't deliver.
More fundamental, however, were competing visions about where to invest and where to cut. Some time after the sale, Torstar engaged in discussions with Postmedia about a potential combination with the company, according to two people familiar with the matter. A deal between the two newspaper publishers has long been rumoured in the industry, as it could potentially lead to significant cost savings. But it's also the kind of arrangement that fills some in the business with concern, particularly around how consolidation could affect resources and, ultimately, the quality of journalism.
The two sides, however, never came to an agreement. Mr. Rivett, concerned about Torstar's cash holdings and burn rate, brought in a consultant early on who specialized in restructurings, insolvencies and troubled companies. The consultant's role, according to four sources, was to find ways to cut costs, including in the Star's newsroom. At some point, proposals were made that would have resulted in a significant reduction in the newsroom headcount, according to two of the sources.
By the fall of 2021, Mr. Bitove was objecting to the consultant's very presence and put a pause on his work, according to one source. He was also concerned about the costs associated with NordStar's other ventures and refused to allow a tranche of funding to go ahead for the online casino division, which launched earlier this year. The divergence is apparent in the court application Mr. Rivett filed in September, where he notes that Mr. Bitove refused to carry out cost-cutting measures at the Toronto Star that had been agreed to, and changed his mind about funding NordStar's early-stage ventures.
Marina Glogovac was Mr. Rivett's choice for the Toronto Star's CEO.J.P. Moczulski/The Globe and Mail
Hiring proved to be another major flashpoint between the two. Earlier this year, they set about filling the role of CEO and president of the Toronto Star. Mr. Rivett was enamoured of Marina Glogovac, a director on the VerticalScope board, where he is also chair. But Mr. Bitove was less impressed, according to three sources, and didn't want to bring her in. Moreover, Mr. Rivett wanted her role to include editorial oversight, whereas Mr. Bitove did not. Ms. Glogovac had spent the past nine years as the head of CanadaHelps, a provider of fundraising technology to charities, and her last media job ended in 2004.
The company announced her appointment in April, 2022, citing her passion for journalism and technology background. But then the newsroom found her Twitter account.
Ms. Glogovac had written that she would never step foot in an establishment requiring vaccine passports ("Did the living in a communist country thing, thank you") and later warned that the public health measure was part of a "psychological phenomenon that enabled all totalitarian regimes." In another tweet from July, 2021, she suggested that Pfizer was influencing Ontario government policy. "We are witnessing a policy and government capture by a massive corrupt drone corporation," she wrote. "Dig deeper folks." (Ms. Glogovac did not respond to requests to comment.)
This, to some, was heresy. A letter to management was hammered out and signed by around 80 employees. "The personal views expressed by Ms. Glogovac about vaccines and mandates directly oppose not only the stance this paper has publicly taken but also our science-based approach to covering the pandemic," the letter read. "They are also bad for business, undermining the Star's brand."
The signatories weren't satisfied that Ms. Glogovac had later said the tweets were "hasty and ill-considered," and the letter asked for written assurance that her views would not affect editorial coverage. But even that might not be enough: "The idea that the CEO of a news organization … can be a purveyor of and believer in outright misinformation – and even conspiracy theories – is a dangerous one."
Ms. Glogovac's official start date was in June, and a virtual town hall was convened for the owners to address the controversy. Mr. Rivett acknowledged that some people were upset by the tweets but held firm on hiring her. Nobody had vetted her social media before she was appointed, an admission that irked some reporters who carefully monitor their own feeds. Mr. Bitove, meanwhile, looked upset. Accounts differ slightly, but he delivered a meandering and bewildering soliloquy about the divisiveness of technology and social media, the negative effects on youth, and, eventually, shed tears. (Mr. Rivett offered a tepid backpat, one observer recalls.)
Anyone who witnessed the display could tell the two owners weren't aligned. Mr. Bitove wanted to dismiss Ms. Glogovac before she joined, according to a person familiar with the matter, but a compromise of sorts was reached. She came aboard as planned, but only as president, not CEO, with no editorial component to her job. Mr. Bitove, though, did not allow her to move into the corner office occupied by Torstar's former president and CEO.
Toronto Star's new office on Spadina Avenue in downtown Toronto.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
When news broke in September that Mr. Rivett had filed a court application to dissolve NordStar and split its assets, employees at the Star were gobsmacked. Reporters, as is their instinct, got their hands on a copy of the application and pored over it to make sense of the surreal situation. The two men were "deadlocked," they read, the relationship "irrevocably impaired."
The feud was only briefly in the public eye. Both sides agreed to take it out of court and attempt private mediation to agree on who would get what. When that failed to produce an outcome, the dispute moved into arbitration. Broadly, the process was of the "cut and choose" variety, according to two people familiar with the discussions. Mr. Rivett divided NordStar's assets into two groups and assigned each a value; Mr. Bitove then had to choose which bundle he wanted.
The two finally reached an agreement on Nov. 24. By then, the Toronto Star had moved from its headquarters of 51 years in a drab brown building at the foot of Yonge Street into a new, sleek space farther west. That day, Mr. Rivett was working in the newsroom at his standing desk when news broke that his former partner would take ownership of the Star and Metroland. He later huddled in a glass-walled meeting room backed by two TV screens displaying large, roaring flames. Not long after, he left the building, and Mr. Bitove strolled in.
The deal was officially announced in a press release early that evening with a cordial tone masking the animosity between the two men. The change was effective immediately, and Mr. Bitove wasted no time: Neil Oliver, a long-time executive, was appointed CEO of Torstar. Ms. Glogovac, who some staff spoke highly of once she joined, was gone.
It's not yet clear how all of NordStar's assets have been divided, including the gaming operations and the company's 37-per-cent stake in VerticalScope. (At its peak, Torstar's holding was worth some $266-million, but has fallen to $40-million amid a rout for tech stocks.) Mr. Bitove has recently taken steps at Torstar that suggest he's conserving cash to focus on the newspaper business. Torstar will be shutting down a subsidiary called Eyereturn Marketing by the end of January, and all 28 employees will be let go. (Spokesperson Bob Hepburn said the closure is due to "financial challenges" facing Eyereturn.)
Mr. Bitove has yet to detail publicly his plans for the Toronto Star and Metroland, but he gave some indication in November, during a panel discussion at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto following the premiere of the Viral News documentary. He sat on one end of the stage, Mr. Rivett on the other, with three panelists between them. Boosting digital subscriptions was key, he said, noting the company had between 130,000 and 140,000 of them, up from nothing a few years ago. Building new audiences, even globally, was important, and he brought up the Star's coverage of long-term-care facilities. "Why shouldn't that be something that, whether you're in Stockholm or wherever, that you are embracing?" he said. He then took aim at Google and Facebook. "We're battling the tech giants," Mr. Bitove said. "We have to put some form of regulation on them, and we need to get our fair share of all the revenue that they take from us." (Torstar has signed revenue agreements with Meta and Alphabet, as has The Globe.)
As he went on, it seemed like profit was almost secondary to him. Maintaining margins was "wonderful," but he was eager to show he had higher goals in mind. "We have an obligation to protect the Atkinson Principles and to protect democracy," Mr. Bitove said.
There has long been tension between those competing realities at the Toronto Star: profit versus principles. Mr. Honderich, a man whom Mr. Bitove admired, grappled with it, too. He at least had the good fortune to live through the glory years. Last month, Mr. Bitove turned up at the Toronto Reference Library for the launch of Mr. Honderich's memoir. The night had an elegiac feel, not just because the man of the hour had passed away nine months earlier, but because on stage, a panel of current and former Star journalists spoke of an era of journalism that no longer exists, a time when budgets seemed endless.
The rueful air didn't seem to bother Mr. Bitove. He stood at the back of the room, behind rows of onlookers, an inscrutable smile on his face. As the panel reminisced about past triumphs, he turned his back and drifted away to the reception area to mingle.
Torstar
Ontario lieutenant-governor David Onley fought for the rights of people with disabilities
Wrongfully convicted Randy Druken's case led to justice reforms in Newfoundland and Labrador
Photographer George S. Zimbel captured human moments, whether shooting celebrities or ordinary people


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Samsung's EHS64 earphones are amazing value at well under £4 on Amazon. Though their clarity is not at Sony MH1C let alone Dunu Titan 1 (FiiO EX1) levels (other well recognised sonic bargains I regularly listen to at home that also punch well above their weight) they're a very enjoyable mildly U-shaped listen and have sufficient detail, frequency balance, transient response and open airy sound to not feel like one is missing out on too much regardless of music genre (not something that can be said of even the once much lauded HiFiMan RE-0 whose limited bass extension means one can completely miss out on bass rhythms). Sound-wise they're not dissimilar to the venerable Koss Porta Pro (modified with the 'quarter mod' that helps lift that headphone's treble veil) with an energetic but never distracting or aggressively sibilant treble (something the Titan 1 can fall foul of with certain tracks), clear articulate vocals and a tight extended open sounding bass that's not boomy or resonant – there's a tiny hole near the driver that probably contributes to the open sound (more natural than the PortaPro's which exhibits some mid bass 'bloom'). I often find myself listening to them in preference to my Sennheiser HD600 full size headphones since much less of a faff to use (straight out of my phone, no amplifier needed, can lie down/sleep with them) and keep with you (they're always in my jacket pocket). I use them with homemade Comply style tips that are just a single 3M yellow foam earplug (about 10p a pair on Amazon in bulk) cut in half lengthways with a small hole drilled through them for the best and most comfortable ear canal seal. Tips can make a big difference to how a particular earphone sounds (seal, ear insertion depth and bore diameter affect frequency response) though the standard silicon tips the earphones come with are pretty compliant and comfortable to begin with and you may be happy sticking with them if they happen to fit your ears well. They even happen to have a phone microphone and volume control! I also use Genelec near field active monitors and their dedicated subwoofer and know how close to natural lifelike sound hifi can get but really think nowadays with careful choice one doesn't have to spend anything like the fortune one once did to get very close to top class faithful sound and music reproduction – once at a certain minimum level of fidelity (like the Samsung's) there's really not that much difference in the emotional experience from the music that more exotic and expensive equipment brings. You can find a fuller review of them against other standard earphones supplied with mobile phones here. They sound good straight out of the packet but like many ear and headphones improve with some 'burn in' – just leave them playing music at moderate volume from say a home radio for a day or two.
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Hi loved these headphones but unfortunately, I think it's impossible to get the genuine model anymore most are bad cheap fakes. Willing to spend more on different ones that have a similar signature to these ones any recommendations?
Hi, the KZ ATE Sports (ear hooks) are more expensive but still very affordable at under £9 on Amazon (cheaper on eBay and Chinese sites) – they also sound even better (more detail and more open and extended bass that is no less in impact and quantity).
Wow, thanks for the reply and reccomendation! I have bought many cheap IEM and have been tricked by fakes and it's funny and ironic to think that there would be fakes of already inexpensive IEMs, but that's the world we live in lol. So could I ask you if you could also recommend or link to a seller on eBay or Amazon that is known to sell genuine KZ ATE Sports IEMs if you know? Regardless, thanks again for the reply and recommendation.
Hi just an update, I finally received the KZ ATE IEM and just wanted to thank you for the recommendation. They are amazing headphones, better than the other sub $100 headphones that I have had, I really can't believe they pack in so much value into these IEMs!!
I am enjoying my music with these and that is always for me an indication of how good an IEM set is. Live music sounds amazing which can be tricky for most sub $100 Iems, vocals sound great. Maybe the only weakness is with electronic music it struggles to be as engaging as it is with instrumental music but it is STILL very good.
The soundstage and stereo imaging are even better than the Samsung EHS64. But maybe the EHS64 has better bass but detail wise and separation wise the KZ ATE is clearly better. It's fun to listen too.
Yeah, I think I will try to change the tips that good advice. I definitely didn't prefer the foam tips as I found that dampened the sound.


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Dark Horse reclaims publishing rights for more 'Star Wars' comics in 2022
By Jeff Spry published 29 December 21
A fresh galaxy of all-age "Star Wars" comics and graphic novels will launch next year.
Star Wars is coming back to Dark Horse comics in 2022. (Image credit: Dark Horse)
In a homecoming seven years in the making, Oregon-based Dark Horse Comics will once again be spinning tales of cosmic adventure in the Star Wars universe in a new agreement with Lucasfilm and Disney Worldwide Publishing.
Launching in the spring of 2022, this partnership will offer a fresh lineup of all-ages "Star Wars" comics and graphic novels inspired by all eras of the franchise's creative world, from the High Republic, to the New Republic, the Imperial regime, to the rise and fall of the First Order.
Marvel Comics lost publication rights to "Star Wars" to Dark Horse in 1991 after being the exclusive outlet for their space opera comics since 1977 when George Lucas's blockbuster was first released. When the Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012, Marvel (also owned by Disney) took back the publishing license for "Star Wars" comics which resulted in a complete reboot of the "Star Wars" line in January of 2015. You can see our guide to the best Star Wars books for more reading options.
Star Wars movies ranked, worst to best
Star Wars movies in chronological order
"Dark Horse Comics has a rich history publishing 'Star Wars' comics and graphic novels," said Dark Horse Comics founder and CEO Mike Richardson in a press release."'Star Wars' is near and dear to all of our hearts and I've been a fan since I saw the original film nineteen times during its original release. I am thrilled that Dark Horse will once again bring new stories to life from this incredible galaxy and I'm not exaggerating when I say we can't wait to bring these new adventures to fans of every age."
Dark Horse's original "Star Wars" roster started thirty years ago with "Star Wars: Dark Empire," and soon grew over the years to include such iconic titles as "Tales of The Jedi," "X-Wing: Rogue Squadron," "Empire," "Droids" and "Knights of the Old Republic."
The cover of Star Wars: Dark Empire from Dark Horse comics in 1995. (Image credit: Dark Horse)
In this new venture to a galaxy far, far away, Dark Horse will be headquarters for the "Star Wars" all-ages offerings left vacant by the departure of IDW Publishing this past fall. The framework of the deal calls for Marvel to retain the flagship in-canon series and its many spinoffs.
"All of us at Lucasfilm Publishing are thrilled to be working with Mike Richardson and everyone at Dark Horse on comics and original graphic novels set in a galaxy far, far away," added Michael Siglain, Creative Director of Lucasfilm Publishing. "There are unlimited storytelling possibilities for all ages comics, and we look forward to collaborating with Dark Horse - and with the best writers and artists in the industry - to bring those stories to readers and fans all over the world."
Stay tuned for more Dark Horse Comics details on upcoming "Star Wars" titles and series as we enter 2022.
Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Jeff Spry
Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.


With less than three weeks until the Feb. 25 trade deadline, buyers and sellers are doing their due diligence around the NHL in an attempt to feel out the market.
The Los Angeles Kings have a number of players on the block, as TFP reported over the weekend, and one veteran star is believed to be generating more interest.
Left wing Ilya Kovalchuk owns a full no-movement clause as part of his three-year contract with the Kings, however, according to TFP Editor-in-Chief David Pagnotta, the 35-year-old is in fact willing to waive his NMC for the right situation, presumably a contending team.
Sources close to the situation have also told TFP the Kings may be willing to retain a portion of Kovalchuk's $6.25 million annual salary cap hit, depending on the offer being presented.
Among the NHL's current playoff-bound teams, the New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, Boston Bruins and San Jose Sharks have expressed interest in Kovalchuk in the past and could be among the clubs inquiring about his availability.
It's unclear what the asking price on Kovalchuk is from the Kings, but L.A. GM Rob Blake is willing to explore the possibility and is expected to have a conversation with Kovalchuk and his agent in the near future once options become more clear.
Kovalchuk started the season with 14 points in his first 14 games, but new interim head coach Willie Desjardins moved him down the lineup, having him play primarily on the team's third and fourth lines up until recently.
Kovalchuk now has 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 42 games on the season, to date.


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Moondyne - A Blossoming Realization
Description: Blossom tracks Moondyne Mouse down to her new lair in Shibuya, where she's gone to ground after coming to a few SHOCKING realizations courtesy of Raiden.
Blossom has been given a little job, a sidequest, or sidebar, if you will--to go find out what happened to Moondyne Mouse, one of their resident hacker and thievery bots, by the NESTS cartel. She shouldn't be too hard to find, after all, just follow the trail of reports of stolen jewels, data thievery--or the wake of hollow-eyed mindjacked idiots in her wake. She was pretty good at those things--but this time was a little different. After the attack by Raiden, while pulling a job for Sybil, they had been unable to get her on the horn communications-wise. Which could mean she was malfunctioning--which perhaps is why Blossom has been given this assignment.
It turns out the tracking beacon for her leads here, an old nightclub that's seen better days--but apparently was in the process of being torn down, at least partially... the old facade and sign is gone from outside, but one can still see the old imprint left by the sign's letters along the side of the building in downtown Shibuya somewhere. It was a 'wrong side of the tracks' kind of place, to be sure.
Inside, it would appear Moondyne Mouse has taken the place over and turned it into a goddamn supervillain robot hideout--there is power, while the windows are blacked out--but it's clear someone's been here... one of the lounge areas has couches with a few people about--including Mouse who is reclining on a row of long leather sofas that have been arranged a bit away from a stage in the corner.
She's dressed in... a black suit with charcoal gray pinstripes, matching hat and red cravat, dress shoes and spats, everything--but she's not even using her holograms to disguise herself as a human--one can see the big conical ears sticking out from the sides of the hat with her light blue hair hanging down as she pulls a clove cigarette out of a long case, holding it between her buck teeth and lighting it.
[BLOSSOM]
Blossom didn't feel like she owned anything to NESTS, not even if they saved her life and gave her that cool body with upgrades, but 2 things made her accept this assignment. First she was bored, and it could be interesting. Also, it was a little assignment, why piss off NESTS right away for such a little thing. They will be pissed soon enough by her if they have to.
So she was on her way. They even gave her the tracking beacon frequency of their target. If someone didn't change it later on, she would be able to keep tracking this thing. That might be useful, if for nothing else than to see if NESTS or her target will think of that. So on her way she goes.
So first taking the train to the Shibuya station, that's where it took her. Seems the rest of the way would have to be on her own terms. She decided to simply walk for the moment, following the beacon. It felt a lot simpler with this body than it probably would have been with her previous meatbag of a body.
She walks all the way, ending up in front of an old nightclub. "I wonder if it's hiding here. From NESTS?" Then again there was power, and it wasn't well hidden, you don't do that mistake if you want to hide. So with that, she was on the process of going inside. She was ready to be 'nice' and try to simply open the door if door there is. But she's totally not against kicking it down, if it is locked.
She probably didn't need to break the door down, but she wanted to. So she kicks it down, announcing to anyone inside she's here, or at least that's someone is here. "Ok if you're not who I am looking for, you can fuck off. If you're the one I am looking for, you will come with me. Easy. Moondyne, is there a Moondyne inside the place?" She knew there was, but there was a few more people than just her in there. Though she should be able to recognize her easily once she has her sight on her.
"Well well well--what is your name, sleek features?" Moondyne raises a brow underneath the black brim of the hat, sitting up from the sofa, but not rising yet. Her white toolpod tipped tail is even flicking out along the cushion next to her. It's fairly obvious this is Moon, even if she is dressed like a prohibition era gangster. It might be a bit 'on the nose' her being a mouse and all, but she's worn this before--but before it was under different circumstances.
On the stage across from where the mouse was sitting was what appeared to be a human woman--yet bizarrely dressed up in Jessica Rabbit cosplay--the red sequin dress, purple gloves, red stiletto heels--everything. Even the ginger hair. It's probably more obviously apparent this is some kind of alteration to her appearance, indeed, as she does not stop singing into the microphone, even as Blossom just kicks the door in, her eyes blank and far away.
Around Mouse was several apparatus--a desk, with a computer placed on it, as well as some robotic devices--with a few of her computer mouse-esque drones flitting about around it.
"That's me, honey--what brings you here?" she raised a brow for a moment, before standing and rising from the sofa, casually approaching Blossom.
Blossom, scans with her robotic eyes, just in case, as she sees some bizarre things in there. "I don't really care, but what the fuck, Who framed Roger Rabbit or something? Though that girl looks really out of it, might be the only cool thing about... Also whatever those little devices are." Though she did check if the drones had a wireless connection, might be useful to hack if needed, if even possible.
She takes a moment before answering Moondyne's question. "Our company is wondering about you, wanted me to find you and bring you back eventually. Now I am wondering if you will come willingly or if you will need to be forced. You are dressed differently than the picture I was sent." She was totally fine doing what was necessary, or even if it wasn't quite necessary to get things settled. She had been too nice lately anyway. Well not really, but she thought she was. "So what will it be Moondyne?"
"Hmm? Oh, right--it's very temporary, I assure you--otherwise you wouldn't get to see the look on their faces when they next snap out of it," Moondyne snorted, referring to 'Jessica' over there. "She had a very big mouth on her, so I put it to better use, come, sit down--" she seems in no rush to head out of her little funhouse so soon, it would appear.
"Lets get a better look at you--cybernetic organism, right?" Moondyne is doing some scanning of her own, even though she's not even wearing her visor at the moment. Not like she needed it too terribly much.
"Question is, is that big juicy brain of yours still mostly human, or did they put any kind of jacks in there...?" she grins.
"Oh one of those who can't shut up. She's probably better off singing then, looking the part too." She sighs. "So you're not going to just come with me. It's going to be more difficult I presume, because nothing is ever simple, at first glance anyway, why would you be different." She was alert, but she couldn't just attack, at least not yet. But she was pondering her options. She went to the couch, not quite sitting yet however.
"I don't think it's terribly difficult for either of us to figure out." She shrugs, her way to confirm to Moondyne she was a cybernetic organism. "So why the weird clothes? Not enough weird in your life?"
"Human enough. If you want to play, be ready for the consequences. Begging to be spared after trying something stupid can be annoying." She watches her. "Are you actually trying to hide from NEST anyway? I don't really care, it's not that I am their biggest fan or anything. But I will do what I am here for is all. You get it I am sure." Not that she get a flying fuck if she got it or not, truth be told.
"Hey it's fine if you want to ask me out on a date, babe, they all do--whether they know it yet or not," Moondyne grinned and readjusted her hat, before sitting back, pulling up a bottle of liqour--perhaps not the expensive Cristal she might want, it's actually Cognac, oof. Might as well be paint thinner~
"I need all the weird in my life, baby--I was in the woods one day when I realized I am destined for greatness, you see," she blinked and made an 'ooh' at Blossom's reply. "Fiesty~" she commented, her tail flicking about a bit more now, doffing her hat and placing it on the back of the sofa.
She poured a glass of the liquor, offering it to Blossom, course, if she didn't accept Moondyne would just shrug and down--all in one go.
"Anyway, sleek features--I was saying--There was this huge energy signature, see--and it fucked me all up--" she grinned, laughing a little. "For a few days I was stuck in a cave, till I was able to recover, it was pretty lonely out there, so I decided to come here to the city and found all these humans just running around and... well they weren't using this place anyway, so," she shrugged.
She snorts. "If I want a date, I won't ask you on a date, I will take you on a date, and you can be sure you will be there, one way or another." She sees the alcohol in her hand, not thinking she needed anything else that might scramble the brain in there, but not caring enough to take the bottle away from her, so she gets to keep it.
"You can totally take this the wrong way, you even should, but you have enough weird right now in your knife, and might need a knock out, or some other forms of mind restrain." She looks at 'Jessica Rabbit another time, and didn't see much of a difference. Perhaps... Anyway she takes the glass. Alcohol was a poison for the brain, it would be taken care of, and Moondyne would have less to take. She downs it, but keeps the glass in her hand at the moment.
Sleek features, she had such weird shit to say. "So you got electrocuted or something and it fucked you all up? And now you think you're doing fine, but really you're still fucked up. Or you're simply naturally fucked up, and the electrocution just confused you a while." She was thinking some of her nanites could go inside and replicate, I mean it was still machine... Then her brain goes on thinking a human behind is like a meat machine, with electricity and such, they might even be able to go in there. "Do you feel like you're a mafia boss from a boss movie usually?"
"Well, aren't you just a fun nazi? Put all the fun in a camp, why don't you," Moondyne hrmphed as the bottle AND glass were taken, she's sitting there like 'heyyyy--I was drinking that!'.
"I feel fine, stop worrying about me--I'll report when I'm damn good and ready!" she huffed, picking herself up, straightening her cravat in the process.
"So what were you be you were cyberized? Some kinda super model?" She walked around Blossom, tilting her head this way and that. From out of her tail pod came a laser pointer, which she was drawing across Blossom's body here and there--like this was some kind of exhibition.
"Mmph, looks like they spent a ton on you, can barely see where they made the incisions..." Moondyne lets her tongue press against the edge of her bucked teeth, before flicking it off, lewdly, all while staring at her, of course, creepily.
She grins a bit at that, she can't help it. "I don't know if alcohol will make you worse right now. Part of me wants to kick your ass righ here right now. Another part of me thinks I should be more subtle." Not expanding on the second point, though she does touch one of her shoulder with one of her hand, after putting the glass down. Almost like a friendly gesture, but it wasn't really. As she was sending a few nanites. Worse come to worse nothing would come out of it.
"Hey! I am not worried about you. What the hell gave you the impression I was worried for you?" She removes her hand at that point.
After that she frowns. "I was nobody. Just a girl, who died. Not sure why the hell they thought I should be this. Love it though. It's everything else that's flawed.
She continues after a small break "I am not even sure what you are, some kind of furry enthousiasm fantasy. But you're not unpleasant to look at. So obviously they didn't try to make a monster or something. You're not having a meltdown because you have problems with yourself, are you?"
"If anything it might affect you more... should drink more," Moondyne grinned, gesturing for the girl to just dunk the whole bottle down. Moondyne does not appear to be too phased when the nanites come in contact with her, at least not for the moment.
"I'm a robot, didn't you know?" the mouse lady frowned, tilting her head this way and that again, as if unsure what to make of Blossom. "And of course I'm sexy, I know you totally wanna do me--but not right now, okay, dear? I'm trying to think," Moondyne rubbed her chin, idly pawing and toying with her cravat in the process.
"I know, lets go find some nuns, and we can turn them into strippers! Or something, would that be fun and make you happy?" she seems to be trying to placate Blossom now that her booze is taken away, though she still puffs on that clove cigarette idly.
At first they would try to replicate, but who knows what defenses Moondyne had. "Nan, it unfortunately doesn't." she shrugs. "I am just not fun, I am a bitch, I want to kill everyone, and if people can't get that, they can just have a heart attack or something."
She makes a face when she says robot. "I wasn't sure if you had a real brain in there, or just some AI shit. I guess that answers the question." She frowns. "No wonder they didn't bother giving you the latest shit." She doesn't answer about want to do her.
The newest idea though intrigues her, nuns stripping. "Now you have peeked my curiousity. Nuns stripping." Would she need to kill everyone, if instead she took control... Could she... This was something to think about, but at later time. "Stripping nuns, I gotta see this. You've giving me an interest right now Moondyne." Of all things to take an interest in...
"I noticed," Moondyne will leave it ambiguous for now if the nanites were getting anyway, there's always the sense of suspense, after all? Isn't that a good thing?
"Well, yeah--it's more of a brain her for example, at least," Moondyne gestured to 'Jessica' on stage over there, who seemed to be going into another song and dance routine.
"Ahh well, I think she's had a enough fun for today," Moon's tail flicked up and beeped, causing the woman to just abruptly stop, staring off into space and grinning as she held her arms and palms flat at her sides.
"There we go, anyhoo--lets go make this report, I don't know what I'm going to tell Sybil though~" she didn't mess up for NESTS, after all, she messed up for Sybs--who by proxy was technically a client of theirs.
"I did a lot of thinking while I was in that grotto, though--and I think this is a brand new me," she grinned, "Lets just make sure to steal something on the way there."
It's totally fine, and not a bad thing. "So you can still notice things at least. Good to know." She smirks at bit and then stands up, amused.
"I see." She ponders, and thinks of different things as Jessica stops her singing, and instead just goes on waiting mode so to speak. "Yea can't have her sing forever, or it will be the same problem as when she talked too much." She looks att he bottle in her hand. "You can have it back, otherwise, i am shattering it on the wall."
Hopefully after this, they will leave alone for a long while." But she had a feeling they probably would not, she was quite the investment."I haven't met that Sybil. I probably wouldn't like her." She didn't like many people after all.
She chuckles."Hopefully you find another calling to move on, and make another brand new you, away from this one." She was ready to go.


I'm the Web Librarian at Carleton University Library and I try to do UX work when I can, in both the digital and the physical world. This started as a space for my colleagues inside and outside the library to see what's happening with our library website and other web-related goings-on. But it's grown to be more of a place where I capture and reflect on my experiences with UX.
I'd been meaning to start this blog well before I did in November 2014, and I would be remiss if I didn't say that I was inspired by Matthew Reidsma's work-related blog.
Also, although my name is on this thing, most of the web work I do is in concert with the fabulous Kevin Bowrin and my amazing Web Committee. Non-web work could be in concert with any number of people. I will try to always give credit where it's due, but readers should always assume that I've done nothing alone.


Much of what we know of ancient cultures comes from burials, and this is also true in Macedonia. Yet, little is known about Classical Macedonian culture outside of the nobility, and even less is known about what they thought of death. This project analyzes funerary images from Macedonia during the Classical and early Hellenistic periods (5th- mid 3rd century BCE) with three questions in mind. First, are there specific motifs that are more prevalent? Second, is there a change in motifs over time? Third, how are these images similar to and different from images in Greece and Thrace? This study will also shed light on regional similarities and differences within Macedonia.
There is a huge corpus of archaeological material from Macedonia, but much of it remains unpublished or is available only in museum catalogues. As a result, this presentation will focus on figured tombstones. A brief secondary discussion of female goddess figurines found in graves will also be presented.


When I started constructing my current fish room I tried to compartmentalize each rack into a stand alone system. Thinking along those same lines, I constructed a rack specific to green water and other cultures. It's nothing fancy and fits in well in my "working" fish room.
The rack has two 40 gallon breeder tanks for the green water cultures and a large shelf on top for daphnia, moina, and brine shrimp cultures. I was fortunate enough to pick up these tanks from a fellow C.A.F.E. member. They are bottom drilled, and just a bit scratched up, but the price was fantastic and they are just a perfect fit for this project.
I'm not sure if the turtle will be able to produce enough "nutrients" to grow green water in both tanks. If not, I'm thinking of adding some feeder gold fish to the bottom tank. They should be just about the right size for someones pond next spring and I can start again with small fish. They could also pull double duty and eat any excess duck weed it find in other tanks.
The rack is my standard 2 x 4 lumber and carriage bolt construction. It was made wide enough that the tanks will easily slide in and out from the front. At first I had though to build the rack just 36 inches wide, but with the green water and the tanks possibly needing more frequent cleaning, I though it would be best to go wider.
Well there should be smiles all around the fish room with the increased supply of moina and daphnia that will now be possible! As the main interest in my fish room is the spawning of my fishes, you can never have too much live food available.
You don't say how much light and for how long. Thank you for sharing this information with everyone.
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