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By Sherry Hanes (May 2020)
In the wake of COVID-19, most places of business are either shut down, or conducting minimal services for their customers but we, here at North Superior Publishing Inc., are happy to say, we are still here and able to provide you with some good news about what's going on in our city and our region, as far as commercial construction is concerned.
For the past 35 years, Thunder Bay Business Magazine has presented articles about what's positive in economic growth, under the commercial construction sector, in Thunder Bay and region. Even in the midst of the current world situation, there is progress moving us forward in construction, along with other initiatives, such as transportation and energy services, that support our growth as a community and our economy.
As far as construction is concerned, Thunder Bay has grown considerably over the last 30 years, especially with the newest additions and reconfigurations with the addition of the CASES Building at Lakehead University, Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre, our Salvation Army Centre and a few others that will be mentioned in this article. Not everything is as bleak as it appears…We still must practice due diligence but, we must also keep doing what is possible and only take different approaches when they become 'impossible'.
In an interview with Penny Kok, Director Building Services, Chief Building Official Development & Emergency Services Department, City of Thunder Bay, Penny had this to share with us:
Sherry: "In connection with the Covid-19 Virus and of course, just in general…
what is the current status for The Thunder Bay Art Gallery? Has it been completed?"
Penny: "Preliminary, review of the plans has taken place and correspondence has been sent to the consultants. We are awaiting they're response."
Sherry: "What about The Thunder Bay Country Club Condominiums Construction.?"
Penny: "The full permit was issued last year (March 2019)."
Sherry: What is the status of the St. Joseph's Care Group, with their $60 Million
Dollar Mental Health Wing?"
Penny: "This project is complete and occupied."
In a continuum of the conversation with Penny Kok, we discussed further developments in our city and what is on the table for 2020 and moving forward. For example, The New Salvation Army Building on Cumberland St.? We learned that "the project is ongoing and currently the exterior cladding and the interior gyproc is being installed. This project was exempt from the Provincial Government's Emergency Order and permitted to continue."
Currently: "What new business, in construction, is, or will be, taking place in our city this year?"
· TBCCC – Permit was issued and thus far, the foundation only has been constructed.
· Proposed Long Term Care Facility – The application was received.
· Hillcrest Condos on High St N (Former Hillcrest High School) – Phase 3 - the permit is currently under review.
· Conversion of former Grandview Lodge on Lillie St for Matawa Education and Care Centre – is currently under construction.
· For the Dome on Golf Links Road – The foundation application is under review.
· A new 24 Unit Apartment on Crossbow – is slated and currently, the permit was issued and construction is commencing soon.
· Also, a 2 – 28 Unit Apartments on Weiler Blvd – is currently under construction.
· The impressive Cargo Facility at our Thunder Bay Port Authority is under Construction.
· Temporarily, the Shipping Distribution Centre on Premier Way – Construction has been postponed, due to the Emergency Order.
· The School on Churchill Drive – Construction has ceased temporarily, due to the Emergency Order.
· We have 2 – 4-plexs on John St Rd – which are under review and…
· We also have 2 – 4-plexs on James St S – which are also under review.
· Also, building permit applications are expected for various hotel and multi-residential projects this year.
Also, Penny Kok, Director Building Services, Chief Building Official Development & Emergency Services Department, informs us that they continue to receive and process building permit applications and issue permits during the Emergency Order and that they do advise the permit holder of the Emergency Order.
In the past few years, especially, the city of Thunder Bay has worked diligently with investors, government agencies, contractors, engineering/architectural firms, community leaders and everyone in between, to encourage sustainable growth and economic development for all. Millions of dollars have been contributed and generated, to ensure the growth of our community and our region and we should be proud of the unbelievable efforts of the collective bodies that put forth hours and hours of precise, methodical engineering design and processes, that see these projects to completion. Yes. Those involved are paid to do this but what is more important is, that there is immeasurable passion in their efforts and commitment to creating a better environment for all. After all, they live here to and that is what makes their contributions for growth even more special.
So. Here is a recap of just some of the achievements we have reached that working together has afforded us all:
The Student Wellness Centre at Confederation College: that was completed and officially opened in September, 2017, attaches to the main campus building. The new centre is a student-driven facility, dedicated to supporting our students in their learning and in leading a healthy lifestyle while studying at the College. The new facility is a full-service Wellness Centre that incorporates fitness centre elements as well as the potential to provide space for college services that support students. The new centre is designed primarily to support student needs and our College community. It is supported by the Student Union both in concept and through financial allocation.
A NEW $20 MILLION REACH BUILDING UNDER CONSTRUCTION AT CONFEDERATION COLLEGE: health and community services programs (2003): The first major new building construction project at Confederation College since the Aviation Centre of Excellence building in 2003 is now underway. The 37,000 square foot addition and 10,000 square floor renovation to the Shuniah building will be a major expansion for the college. The new addition for our students enrolled in our health and community services programs and are committed to increase our enrollment by almost 500 students so this is our growth in that area. The idea came from business and industry and the health care sectors and social services sectors across NW Ontario which indicated a need for more workers in those fields. The provincial and federal governments provided us with over $20 million for the project. The addition was on the north side of the Shuniah building and included new lab and classroom space. Today the Shuniah building is 300,000 square feet in size so this represents significant growth. In the new facility will be all of health care, police foundations, community child care workers, early childhood education and new programs in addictions and mental health. In the health and community care program, the graduates of Confederation College have a high employment rate.
Our Thunder Bay International Airport, saw its renovation completion, in 2019. The, $9 million upgrade, which was cited for the expansion, included $5 million dollars from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. (NOHFC), through the (then) efforts of Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines, and Bill Mauro, Minister of Municipal Affairs and MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan, when it first began in September of 2017. The Thunder Bay International Airport was first built 80 years ago, as the Fort William Municipal Airport in 1938, partly as a means of relieving unemployment and during World War II, the Thunder Bay (then Fort William) airport was home to No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School, part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The airport was also used as a base for test flights of fighter aircraft being built at the nearby Canadian Car and Foundry factory. Before the two cities of Fort William and Port Arthur merged, it was called the Canadian Lakehead Airport. The airport went under major renovations in 1994 with the construction of a new airport terminal building, including two jetways, a large food court, a gift shop and an arcade. The airport was handed over from the government in 1997 to the Thunder Bay International Airports Authority, a non-profit organization. The airport handled over 600,000 passengers in 2006 for the first time since 2001.As of February, 2019, the airport is, one could say, getting better with age. The primary reason for the much, needed addition and upgrade to the Thunder Bay International Airport, was to expand the secure departure lounge and entryways, giving the airport the ability to accommodate the extra growth in traveler traffic and to help for any changes in the aviation systems now, and into the future.
Lakehead University CASES Building: Thunder Bay Lakehead University, Centre for Advanced Studies in Engineering and Sciences, CASES Centre, developing and promoting inspiration, innovation and ingenuity. CASES plays an extremely important roll, for attracting researchers and top students from all over the world and boasts a list of programs and facilities that have been in the making for a very long time now. And they are: The Centre of excellence for Sustainable Mining and Exploration, The Aboriginal Mentorship Program, The Biomass Utilization Laboratory, The Prototype Development Facility, The Nano-Material and Advanced Technologies Innovation Centre, The Laboratory for Integrated Freshwater Science, The Community Ecology Energetics Laboratory, The Human Origins Laboratory, the Office of Sustainability, and INGENUITY a business incubator space, which will allow students to develop their own start-ups in Northern Ontario, possibly the next origin of world, technological advancements in computers or the worlds next on-line retailer?
2013: Two brand new fire stations located at 2065 20th Sideroad and 1710 West Frederica Street, as well as a renovated and expanded station at 501 Churchill Ave. These projects were completed over a period of about 1 1/2 years. a cost of about $7 million. The construction project included two brand new fire stations, No 6 and 7, as well as the James Street station renovation, EMS addition and truck bay enlargement.
(2016) New home for the Carpenters' and Joiners Local Union 1669. Located at 1306 Capitol Way, Thunder Bay, Ontario. The new headquarters for the Carpenters' and Joiners Union is 12,750 square foot and is well versed for its' members and trainees. It is constructed in the new developing area for industrial business in INNOVA Park. The new building lends way to an additional 7,000 more square feet of space which provides the much-needed training space.
$35 million 149 room Delta Hotels by Marriott Thunder Bay (article 2019 by Scott Sumner) "The room inventory up to this time has been open as of May 12th and there has been incredible interest in the property both from conferences and individual travelers. They have been getting phone calls on a daily basis asking if there open yet. Some conference groups in 2020 and 2021 have already been booked. The Delta has a signature restaurant called the Anchor and Ore which is true to the area the hotel is in and engaged in the local flair with our cuisine. They proudly serve Starbucks which is grab and go at the Harbourside Cafe. Their conference facilities will allow a seated dinner with up to 380 people. Currently the Delta has 70 staff but soon will be closer to 95 with full compliment."
The Reconfiguration for Port Expansion Project: (2020) Port of Thunder Bay: is proud to partner on this $15 million dollar project with the National Trade Corridors Fund and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. In July, 2018, The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, and the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour, announced a major investment of $7.5 million for improvements to our port's infrastructure, that will address helping businesses move their goods to market. With an investment of $1 million through the province's Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), Thunder Bay Port Authority is building on its Keefer Terminal operations.
Despite the COVID-19 having such an impact on country and community, advancements are still going forward in certain sectors of industry, such as construction. Everyone is practicing all the necessary measures for prevention and spread of the virus, so it is important to know that all is not lost. A lot of people are working from home these days, as we here, at North Superior Publishing Inc. currently are.
We are happy to bring you current information about what is happening in our city with respect to construction and also to provide encouragement for post-covid. We also would like to pay paramount tribute to our Front Line Health Workers and Science Health Research Workers for all they do, risking life and limb in the interest of mankind and to all who remain working, despite what services you provide…City workers, construction workers, grocery store and department store workers, pharmacy workers….and everyone else who provide the necessities of life!
Also, in conclusion, it would only be fitting to say that, construction of any kind, cannot take place without the skilled professionals that we have the great fortune to have in our fine city. Contractor companies who grow their companies and takes financial and physical risk in providing construction services here in Thunder Bay, and literally, everyone involved in the process of construction, deserves great respect and applause for making all these magnificent structures come together. We thank the investors, the private businesses, who see Thunder Bay and region as a place that is worth the investment of their hard-earned dollars. Also, it would be remiss on my part, not to mention that. Get on board and be part of the great changes in the construction climate, here, in our great city, our region, our country … We can always make things better…Together!
Together, WE can build the future we want!


Shane Penny heads up the successful 'TEAM PENNY' from HKY Real Estate. He is very proud of his award winning Team that enjoy helping people get their properties SOLD.
Living Area-213m2.. Total Area-263m2.. Block-484m2..
"As a potential vendor of your home, you should be in no doubt that 'Team Penny' at HKY Ellenbrook are the best that you will get in this area. We know this from personal experience having had our property on the market for over five months with another local agent with no success, so we switched to HKY and to Shane Penny in particular, as we had seen other properties in our locality selling whilst our house did not appear to be striking a chord with buyers.
We met with Shane and David and with an approach to listing our property which was realistic, allowing them to use all of their professional skills, we had an offer after only three weeks! Prior to this, Shane and David had used their network and their intuition to match potential buyers with our lovely property and we had a good number of appointments (not just relying on Home Opens). The new owners of our property are, we believe, ideally matched to it and this is very pleasing as we think that they will get as much out of our 'happy home' as we have.
From signing the contract through till the settlement Shane was very approachable and always more than happy to help. We chose Shane to be our agent as he had an up to date and strategic knowledge of the market, which proved vital in securing a buyer for our property in a tough market. We wouldn't hesitate to use Shane again, Cheers….
From signing the contract through till the settlement Shane was very approachable and always more than happy to help. We chose Shane to be our agent as he had an up to date and strategic knowledge of the market, which proved vital in securing a buyer for our property in a tough market.
We wouldn't hesitate to use Shane again, Cheers….


Chronic hunger claims the lives of more than 3 million children under the age of five each year—more than die from malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS combined. Those who survive suffer permanently from stunted physical growth, impaired cognitive development, and lowered resistance to disease.
The technical solution to chronic child hunger is well recognized: provide at-risk populations with sufficient amounts of nutritious food (or the means to produce it themselves), supplemented by appropriate health care (for example, deworming treatments) and education (such as emphasizing the importance of breast-feeding to new mothers). Why, then, does the problem still exist?
Lack of Vital Knowledge. The relevant parties may not know about the practices that can fend off chronic child hunger—including breast-feeding, proper hygiene, balanced nutritional intake, and deworming. Receiving the necessary education takes time, and that time may not exist in people's daily routines.
Social Norms. Norms that guide the behaviors of families, communities, and governments can create sizable hurdles. In a village in Peru, for instance, quinoa, a highly nutritious crop, grew in abundance, offering a ready solution to hunger in the region. But local communities believed that the grain was cursed and refused to consume it.
Competing Demands on Mothers' Time. A mother might be painfully aware of the importance of having her child treated for severe malnutrition. But if traveling to and from the nearest health center means that she'll miss a day's work, compromising her ability to earn enough to feed her other children, she is unlikely to make the trip, even if the treatment is available at no cost.
The Large Number, and Often Overlapping Agendas, of Organizations. Progress against chronic child hunger can be hindered by the sheer number of organizations involved. In a single country, multiple government agencies (including ministries of agriculture, education, and health), UN organizations (such as the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organization), NGOs, donors, coordinating bodies and movements (such as Scaling Up Nutrition), and other aid organizations are typically engaged in the battle against hunger. Because of mandates from governments or donors1, many of those players have their own goals, preferred modes of intervention and operation, and targeted geographic areas and populations. That complexity can translate into redundancy, a lack of coordination, and, ultimately, a lack of impact. In one country, we observed more than 50 entities engaging in the fight against chronic child hunger—yet most children in need still didn't receive the comprehensive package of essential interventions.
Because so many factors are involved both in the problem of chronic child hunger and in potential solutions, complexity is unavoidable. The task, therefore, is not to try to reduce complexity but to find a different way to think about and manage it.
Since 1990, the international community has issued or established more than 45 declarations, coordinating bodies, and coordinating processes to counter hunger. These include the World Declaration and Plan of Action for Nutrition (1992), the Declaration of the World Food Summit: Five Years Later (2002), the G8 leaders' Statement on Global Food Security (2009), and the Zero Hunger Challenge (2012).
Complexity is also a fundamental challenge for participants in a vastly different realm—the business sector. Businesses across industries routinely face substantial complexity as they strive to pursue multiple valuable, yet competing, performance objectives. Companies want to innovate and be efficient, offer customers low prices and high quality, and customize offerings for specific markets and standardize them to maximize operating returns. Departments and leaders can easily find themselves facing dozens of conflicts, including internal conflicts with other departments or functions such as finance, HR, and IT.
When reconciling those objectives proves challenging, companies tend to respond by creating structures, processes, systems, scorecards, and committees. But such interventions rarely deliver as expected. Instead, they merely add layers, which are ultimately counterproductive. In short, they add what we call complicatedness: a man-made response to complexity.
We have found that the companies that deal successfully with complexity do not focus on structures but on context and on the ways people interact. They de-emphasize traditional management techniques and emphasize instead what people actually do in an organization and why. We call this approach Smart Simplicity2.
Smart Simplicity rests on the idea that three critical requirements enable organizations to navigate through fundamental challenges and their related complexity: leadership, cooperation, and engagement. Effective leadership is about understanding what people do and empowering them to use their judgment and intelligence. It is also about setting objectives beyond employees' direct control, holding people accountable for the consequences of their actions, and rewarding those who cooperate. The second element is genuine cooperation among stakeholders. The third is the engagement of all relevant parties.
Might these requirements—leadership, cooperation, and engagement—hold equally in the fight against chronic child hunger?
We use reductions in stunting to gauge success.
Those elements mean specific things, however, in the effort to eradicate chronic child hunger.
Leadership. Someone personally dedicated to the cause must champion and take charge of the effort in a country for a minimum of five years, acting as a national integrator of the activities of key stakeholders. This person must have the commitment and backing of the country's political leaders at the highest level.
The leader must be supported by a full-time team of 10 to 15 people that operates under the government's aegis but is not tied to a particular ministry; this team must have secure funding for at least five years. The team's task is not to implement specific interventions but to act as a catalyst to necessary actions and then to coordinate and drive them forward.
The team supports the formulation of strategies tailored to specific contexts; oversees pilot projects with the aim of producing results quickly and demonstrating proof of concept; and plays a key role in monitoring and reporting progress, and alerting decision makers to potential roadblocks.
Cooperation. Cooperation in this context refers to any activity undertaken by a stakeholder that makes the activities of other stakeholders more effective. The steps to foster such cooperation include establishing easy-to-measure joint targets at the village level and formulating strategies and tactics to reach them. Effort should be made to achieve and promote quick wins in order to motivate participants for the journey ahead.
Engagement. During the critical "last mile" of implementation—the connection to beneficiaries—aid providers must have a thorough understanding of how to promote engagement and, ultimately, responsibility among individuals and their communities. Mothers, fathers, and other family members should be given incentives and rewards for taking the mitigation of chronic child hunger into their own hands and ensuring ongoing progress.
The critical importance of leadership, cooperation, and engagement was evident in the most successful initiatives we observed.
Start with leadership. The success in the Indian state of Maharashtra traces its roots to the chief minister's decision to address malnutrition in the state and to the subsequent engagement of a senior government official. This official led the Rajmata Jijau Mother-Child Health and Nutrition Mission, a team of 15 people that operated from within the state government, for five years with the support of UNICEF. Senegal's success, in turn, was spurred by a World Bank official who united relevant parties to rethink the country's approach to hunger challenges. This official secured political support and long-term funding for the effort from the World Bank. The official also recruited an effective local leader to head the National Commission to Fight Malnutrition and to assemble a team that reported to the country's prime minister.
Cooperation among stakeholders was also apparent. In Peru, the initiative's team, which also reported to the prime minister, worked with various stakeholders and experts to develop a strategy informed by several successful small programs that had been established throughout the country. In Maharashtra, the Rajmata Jijau Mother-Child Health and Nutrition Mission fostered stakeholder cooperation by focusing on one joint outcome metric: the percentage of underweight children. The Mission reinforced stakeholders' accountability by regularly weighing children in the villages and then publicizing each district's progress using a simple rating of red, yellow, or green. Joint accountability was further strengthened by regular interactions among district offices, the Mission, and state-level secretaries, and by periodic reviews at the highest levels of the Maharashtra government.
The teams we observed fostered engagement in creative ways. In Peru, Juntos, the National Program to Support the Poorest People, gave cash rewards to participating families that verified that pregnant women had prenatal care, newborns had specialized care, and children's growth was monitored periodically. In Senegal, economic activities (such as the production of clothing and towels using local fabric) were developed that brought together mothers and the community workers who were critical in efforts such as weighing children and counseling and educating mothers.
Considerable amounts of time, energy, and resources have been marshaled to combat chronic child hunger, and great advances have been made. But the journey is far from over, and the complexity of the challenge should not be used as an excuse for the distance that remains.
We believe that the elements of Smart Simplicity discussed above can lead to critical improvements in this campaign and that international agencies, governments, charitable organizations, and other parties that have taken up the cause of chronic child hunger would be well served to consider them. The children stand to be the ultimate winners.


Choose a folder of your images as 'paint'. Aleph Null does not upload anything.
cover contain none random bookish How to stretch the underlying images.
random alphabetical Sample order of the images.
Add system font specified above.
regular dream Border type at edge of browser.
Jim Andrews: concept, programming, design.
Natalie Funk: design consultation, support, love and encouragement.
Ted Warnell, Chris Joseph: testing, feedback, suggestions.
Thanks to Wikipedia Commons and the British Library for the illuminated manuscript images. Thanks to Wikipedia Commons for the images in Alchemical Cosmography. Thanks to Ernesto Priani for his help with matters pertaining to Ramon Llull. Thanks to Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliográfico, Spain, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, for the Ramon Llull images.
Here is an excellent introductory doc on Aleph Null 3.0 with art videos and tutorial videos.
Until this version of Aleph Null, the program was solely an instrument of color music. This version introduces new nibs that support sampling of bitmap images and importing your own images into the nibs. It also involves featured artists with dedicated nib icons for their work using those image nibs. So Aleph Null is now a graphic synthesizer, in addition to an instrument of color music.
Image nibs work well and sample from bitmaps. The image nibs don't crash anymore. Aleph Null is no longer solely an instrument of color music. It's also a graphic synthesizer. And there are new image nibs.
Selected artists supply graphics for dedicated nibs associated with the artists.
Supports layers. The 'up' and 'down' buttons raise and lower brushes through layers of canvases.
'save' button lets you save a high-res png screenshot to a new browser tab.
Can have 200+ color music brushes with a good framerate.
The sliders have end buttons to fine-tune the slider values.
It looks and works much better on mobile devices with a touch interface.
It sizes well to any screen size.
There are several new nibs.
Brushes draw more complex and beautiful work.
It supports 'finger painting' on touch screens.
It lets players save configurations and string such configurations into playlists that will let Aleph Null display varietously without someone having to play it. This is meant for galleries and personal screensavers. When you interact with Aleph Null 2.0, it exits 'gallery mode' and enters 'interactive mode'. When you haven't touched it for two minutes, it goes back into 'gallery mode'.
Players can share their work.
When you mouseover controls, Help will appear at the bottom of the control panel. If you want more detail, consult this Help.
You can play with the the mouse, the keyboard (if you have one), or your finger (if your screen is touch-enabled). The below Help tips are arranged in the same vertical order as the vertical order of the controls.
Click this or 'X' key to toggle display of controls.
LOGO: The 'L' key toggles display of the Aleph Null logo and the VIsPO logo.
NIB MENU: A nib is a shape that lays down a brushstroke each frame of the animation. To select the first nib, either press 'Shift+1' if you have a keyboard, or click/press the first colored icon toward the top of the screen—like the ones shown above. To select the third nib, click the third icon at top or press 'Shift+3' (and so on). To select the eleventh nib, press Shift+Q (and so on), ie, use the second row of keys to select nibs numbered higher than 10. The Nib menu scro lls horizontally.
NIB OPTIONS WINDOW: The 'N' key toggles display of the Nib Options window for the currently editable brush, if it has nib options. Image nibs do. Color music nibs don't. The first time you click a nib icon, that replaces the nib of the currently editable brush with the new nib. The second time you click that same nib icon, the Nib Options window is displayed.
Image nibs sample from graphics. They use those samples as 'paint'. Whereas color music nibs only use color as 'paint'. The graphics from which an image nib samples are called the underlying images of that brush. When you click an image nib to start a nib playing, by default it uses its own graphics. But you can import your own graphics into the nib so the nib uses your graphics instead.
CHOOSE FILES: Click to select a folder of images on your machine to use instead of the current images the nib is using. The resulting system dialog box implies that Aleph Null will upload your images to the Aleph Null server. But Aleph Null does not, in fact, upload your images. It just uses them locally.
STRETCH MODE: How to stretch the underlying images.
COVER: Each underlying image covers the entire browser window. If the image needs to be stretched to do this, it's stretched proportionally.
CONTAIN: Each underlying image is stretched or shrunk (proportionally) so that it is fully contained in the browser window.
NONE: Each underlying image is not stretched or shrunk.
RANDOM: For each update of the underlying image, an equally-likely random decision is made between Cover, Contain, and None.
BOOKISH: If the display is wider than it is high, and an image to be drawn into the underlying image is higher than it is wide, the image will be written into the underlying image as though the display had a two-page spread and the image will be drawn in as one page, on either the left or right side (randomly).
SAMPLE ORDER: The order in which the nib samples from the underlying bitmap images.
RANDOM: The images are sampled in random order.
ALPHABETICAL: The images are sampled in alphanumeric order.
X ALIGNMENT: This dropdown menu is visible when Stretch Mode is set to 'Contain' or 'None'. It lets you set the X Alignment (horizontal) of the underlying images.
CENTER: The images are horizontally centered.
LEFT: The images are left-aligned as per the Left Margin which, by default, is 0. See below for the Left Margin slider.
RIGHT: The images are right-aligned as per the Right Margin which, by default, is 0. See below for the Right Margin slider.
RANDOM: The images are horizontally aligned randomly between the left and right margins.
Y ALIGNMENT: This dropdown menu is visible when Stretch Mode is set to 'Contain' or 'None'. It lets you set the Y Alignment (vertical) of the underlying images.
CENTER: The images are vertically centered.
TOP: The images are top-aligned as per the Top Margin which, by default, is 0. See below for the Top Margin slider.
BOTTOM: The images are bottom-aligned as per the Bottom Margin which, by default, is 0. See below for the Bottom Margin slider.
RANDOM: The images are vertically aligned randomly between the top and bottom margins.
MS PER IMAGE: An important little slider. This sets the number of milliseconds that the nib samples from an image before moving on to sampling from another image. If this is set too high, you basically get a slideshow of the underlying images. The idea is to set this low enough that you don't get a slideshow but, instead, an interesting synthesis of images. 'Ctrl+Shift+1' will update the top brush's underlying image even if it's not yet time to do so. 'Ctrl+Shift+2' will update the second top-most brush, and so on.
LEFT MARGIN: The left margin of the underlying images. Not the left margin of where the brush draws. This slider's visible when Stretch Mode is set to 'None' or 'Contain'. The default value is 0, so the margin is on the left border of the browser. Measured in pixels.
RIGHT MARGIN: The right margin of the underlying images. Not the right margin of where the brush draws. This slider's visible when Stretch Mode is set to 'None' or 'Contain'. The default value is 0, so the margin is on the right border of the browser. Measured in pixels. Negative values are to the right of the browser's right edge.
TOP MARGIN: The top margin of the underlying images. Not the top margin of where the brush draws. This slider's visible when Stretch Mode is set to 'None' or 'Contain'. The default value is 0, so the margin is on the top border of the browser. Measured in pixels. Negative values put the margin above the browser's top edge.
BOTTOM MARGIN: The bottom margin of the underlying images. Not the bottom margin of where the brush draws. This slider's visible when Stretch Mode is set to 'None' or 'Contain'. The default value is 0, so the margin is on the bottom border of the browser. Negative values put the bottom margin below the browser's bottom. Measured in pixels.
CENTRAL COLOR: Color music nibs do not sample from images; they use color as paint, not samples from graphics, unlike image nibs. The central color is at the center of a sphere of colors. It is like the sun. The other colors that color music nibs draw are all within 'color range' of the central color. They are like planets. And the 'color range' is the maximum radius of the solar/color system. The '1' key or clicking the input box labelled 'central color' toggles a color-picker for the central color. Use the mouse to select a central color. Image nibs also have a central color, but its role is less significant. It may control the color of the stroke around the image nib's shape, for instance, but not affect the color of the image nib's brushstrokes otherwise.
BACKGROUND COLOR: The '2' key or clicking the input box labelled 'BG color' toggles a color-picker for the background color of the app. Use the mouse to select a background color.
STOP: The 'S' key stops all brushes. Pressing it again starts all brushes that are not paused via the 'pause' button.
ERASE: The 'E' key or 'erase' button erases the screen and changes the route the shape follows.
ROUTE: The 'R' key or 'route' button changes the path or route the currently editable brush traverses.
DOWN: The '[' key or 'down' button lowers the canvas layer of the canvas on which the currently editable brush is drawing. Aleph Null supports layers. A brush can have its own layer or share a layer with other brushes. The 'down' button lowers the editable brush's layer by one 'floor'.
UP: The ']' key or 'up' button raises the canvas layer of the canvas on which the currently editable brush is drawing. Aleph Null supports layers. A brush can have its own layer or share a layer with other brushes. The 'up' button raises the editable brush's layer by one 'floor'.
COLOR RANGE: The '3' key or clicking the handle of the 'color range' slider selects it. When selected, the handle is blue. Use the right and left arrow keys on the keyboard (they provide more granular control) or the mouse to change the value. Or the end buttons on the slider. The 'color range' slider adjusts the number of colors Aleph Null uses. The lower the value, the fewer the number of colors used. Colors on the canvas are random distances from the 'central color'. Distances that don't exceed the 'color range'. The smaller the value of the 'color range' slider, the closer all the colors are to the 'central color'. Each brush has its own 'color range' setting.
OPACITY: The 'opacity' slider adjusts transparency of the brush. Very low values can look good at night with the lights off. Each brush has its own opacity setting. The '4' key or clicking the handle of the 'opacity' slider selects it. You can then drag the handle with the arrow keys, the mouse, or your finger.
FADER: The '5' key or clicking the handle of the 'fader' slider selects it. The 'fader' slider adjusts whether or how quickly the canvas of the currently editable brush fades out. A 0 value means no fading occurs. The higher the fader slider value, the more quickly that layer fades. The fader slider value is a property not of a brush but of the canvas on which the brush is drawing. So if two brushes are drawing in the same layer, they will have the same fader value.
BPS: The '6' key or clicking the handle of the 'bps' slider selects it. The bps (brush-strokes per second) slider adjusts the speed of the nib. Each nib has its own bps value. The 'real' value is the actual speed your computer is performing at now. The other value is what the slider is set at. The slider can be set as low as 0.1 bps which means it does one brushstroke every 10 seconds. The slider can be set as high as 6000, which means the brush does 6000 brushstrokes per second. Color music nibs can paint at that speed. But image nibs are much slower.
SIZE: The '7' key or clicking the handle of the 'size' slider selects it. The 'size' slider adjusts the maximum size of nibs. Each nib has its own size setting.
RHYTHM: The '8' key or clicking the handle of the 'rhythm' slider selects it. The nib descreases in size each frame by this many pixels. For most nibs, this slider controls the visual rhythm of the animation.
LINE WIDTH: The '9' key or clicking the handle of the 'line width' slider selects it. Some nibs let you set the line width. Experiment to see what it does for a particular nib.
ROTATION SPEED: The '0' key or clicking the handle of the 'rotation speed' slider selects it. Some nibs let you set the rotation speed.
TIPS: Opens/closes the Tips window. The 'T' key does the same thing.
MOUSE: The 'M' key toggles mouse-controlled position of the nib.
ABOUT: The 'A' key toggles this window open/closed.
SAVE: The 'P' key or 'save' button creates a png screenshot and launches it in a new browser window. Then right-click the screenshot (Ctrl-click on a Mac) to name and save it. Aleph Null lets you create high-res images. You can zoom out via Ctrl- and zoom in via Ctrl+. When you zoom out, the control panel should get smaller. When you zoom out, you give Aleph Null a bigger canvas. And the screenshots you take with the 'save' button or 'P' key are correspondingly big in their dimensions. This lets you create print-resolution, high-res images.
What to do: This is interactive art. Click stuff and see what happens.


text:
Shay Mitchell on teaching her daughter about activism >
Why Shay Mitchell is teaching her 8-month-old about activism
"I think it's so important to educate them at a young age."
Heather Marcoux
Matte Babel
Shay Mitchell and Matte Babel's daughter Atlas is only 8-months-old but her parents are already committed to teaching her about how to make a difference in the world around her.
"We're reading books, one of her nighttime books is A Is for Activist," Mitchell told Entertainment Tonight this week. "We're starting her right now because I think it's so important to educate them at a young age so they know that truly no matter what you look like, you deserve to love and be loved without judgment, be all and end all and that's it. Especially coming from a mixed family herself."
Mitchell's dad is white, and her mom is Filipina, and Babel is Black. Mitchell and Babel both grew up in Canada but live in the United States now and Mitchell says they are committed to teaching Atlas about anti-racism at home.
She tells ET: "I hope it's in our generation and I really pray that it's in hers as well that there will be a huge change and I slowly see it right now."
Activism is part of little Atlas' life already and so is the coronavirus, unfortunately. Mitchell says hand washing is very much a part of her daughter's routine already and is looking forward to the day Altas can visit her Canadian relatives. Having borders shut down and work slow down has allowed the young family to really bond this spring and summer, but Mitchell also wants to see Altas interact with her extended family more.
"Matte and I travel so often, being able to spend as much time as a family together with her at such an early age is incredible," she explains. "However, there are obviously challenges because I wish my mom and my dad could be here, Matt's family, my grandma, obviously, I want her to have time with Atlas, so as soon as things hopefully open up and it's safe. I can't wait to go to Vancouver and bring her over there."
When it's safe we're sure Atlas will get to visit her grandmothers. And we're sure her mama won't forget to pack A Is for Activist.
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