Locals and Tourists #10 (GTWA #10): Toronto, a photo by Eric Fischer on Flickr.

Someone has been using camera’s geolocation data on Twitter to determine where locals take pictures and where tourists take pictures. The latest treatment is this photo of Toronto

My friend took this picture while stuck in traffic. Everyone was patiently waiting.

National Emergency Preparedness Week has been around for years and years. However, it gets almost zero media attention nor any real engagement or action by the public (do you really have an emergency kit to survive 72 hours? I don’t). Well this year, the Centers for Disease Control in the USA is trying an interesting campaign to get people engaged and prepare. In a year of nuclear disasters, floods and earthquakes it’s good to see some levity around preparing for emergencies, even zombies.

Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse (Centers for Disease Control)

The City of Toronto is now letting people dispute parking meter fines through email. The full process is outlined on their website, but in general if you provide proof of payment or of a broken meter it will be accepted through email.

Aeroplan recently changed their policy for spouses and heirs when a member passes away. Now, points are transferrable for a $30 fee and usable for one year. More information at the Toronto Star.

A lot of us have a line of credit, and many of us probably have used it to borrow with. The Toronto Star investigates the explosive growth of credit lines and some of their dangers. In Toronto it’s easy to be lulled into thinking that our housing values will always go up, and that mortgage rates will always be cheap, but those trends never last forever.

The Toronto Star ran this article detailing tax credits that might be missed. Be sure to check your eligibility for these credits.

I’ve been drafting a set of articles for people that are learning how to invest for themselves. However, the other day I noticed that the Globe and Mail wore a series of arcticles covering the same topics and with much of the same lessons I was writing. When most people ask for advice, they believe that picking investments is the only thing to worry about. The Globe puts that step as the 4th chapter – highlighting that there are things you need to do beforehand.

Chapter 1: What are the five basic steps of investing?

Chapter 2: What kind of investor am I?

Chapter 3: How do I build an investment portfolio?

Chapter 4: How do I choose investments for my portfolio?

Chapter 5: What mix of investments is right for my stage in life?

A few months ago, Facebook told us it was upgrading it’s message system. Of the changes, it was going to give everyone yourname@facebook.com email addresses that are linked to your messages on Facebook.

I was able to upgrade my account a few days ago and have been using it. Functionality aside, they allowed me to send “invites” to upgrade to my friends. The problem is, there are no actual invites. When I invited someone, Facebook said invites will be “sent when available”. This is not how Gmail invites were – those invites got there right away.

The new year has arrived and many Canadians are thinking about taxes and savings. This article at the Toronto Star points out a few things about TFSA’s and RRSP’s that people may not know.

If you do the math, because withdrawals from the TFSA are not taxable, there are circumstances that make the TFSA a more attractive savings vehicle for retirement. Granted, this is given that the TFSA continues to act the way it does today, in the 30-odd years before my retirement pension, RRSP and TFSA rules will probably change.