May 2 & 3, 2026 Show Notes
Times-Colonist Book Sale Weekend Edition
🎙️ Show airs live
Saturday: 10:05am-Noon PT
on C-FAX 1070 in Victoria and
on CKFR AM 1150 in Kelowna
🔁 Rebroadcast
Sunday: 1:05pm-3pm PT
on C-FAX 1070
🎧 Podcast
Anytime
anywhere you get your podcasts
Your crew this weekend:
Terry Sirup
Computer Tech and Store Sales Manager at Priority 1 Computers
3960 Quadra, across from White Spot
Terry@Priority1.ca
store +1 250-475-7510
The Podcast
Listen now: (podcast will appear here once its been uploaded)
Or, you can subscribe to "Tech Talk with Alan Perry" (it's free) on any podcast app including these…
1) Watch out for scam screens claiming your phone has been damaged and infected
It appears when you tap on a link in Facebook, and looks like the screenshot.
If you look closely at the top of the screenshot, you'll see that it's actually just a webpage, in this case, phoneshieldpro.xyz.
The pop-up includes a countdown timer to give a sense of urgency, and tells you that viruses have been detected on your iPhone, and to try to scare you, it warns that further damage will result if you don't follow the instructions.
The instructions in the pop-up are to install a virus removal app for free and run it.
If you tap anywhere on the pop-up, it takes you to the real Apple App Store and to a specific free app.
In thsi case, it offers the free Trust-Access app as shown in the next screenshot…the same app suggested by a different scam webpage that claims your device has been 'severly' (sic) damaged by viruses from adult websites…
A similar one claims to be from Apple Security and says your connection has been hacked and someone is tracking you, and urges you to install a free app to fix the problem...
Other similar ones aimed at Android users also claim your phone has been badly infected.
In all of these cases, your device has NOT been damaged or infected. It's scam. You were hit with a pop-up ad from an app or were tricked into clicking on a link that took you to a scam web-page.
What's the scam? Trust-Access, and a rotating list of similar other apps, are harmless free apps, but they come with a free three-day trial which then charges you $19.95 a month USD unless you cancel it! The scammers are gambling that if you do cancel it, it'll be after they got their first $20 out of you.
They avoid getting caught because they delete the app from the app store almost weekly (before anyone can post a review that it's a scam), and replace it with one with a different name. And because apps like these are not harmful to your device, it's hard for Apple or Google to detect that they're being used for subscription scamming.
NEVER install apps on the basis of a pop-up screen like this one!
You can make the message go away by simply closing your web-browser, or in the case of the iPhone home screen pop-up, by tapping on the small "x" in the upper-right corner of the screen, or, by re-starting your device.
And if you do install a subscription app and don't realize that till after your free trial is over, contact Apple or Google and they'll almost always refund your first subscription fee.
Here's how for Apple device users…
…and here's how for Android device users…
2) Watch out for more scam texts offering well-paying online jobs
Scam job-offer texts are not new, but what is new, as shown in these screenshots, is that they're being sent as text-filled pictures, to make it harder for spam filters to detect and block them.
The texts come from a variety of senders (often from gmail email addresses), but they all have one thing in common: they offer great pay for flexible part-time work from home with the money paid to you each day…
Sometimes, you'll get them like regular texts…
If you're interested, you're encouraged to send a text or WhatsApp message to a number in the USA.
There are three potential scams here:
1) You'll be encouraged to complete an online application form, which they'll review, and then within a day, you'll be 'approved', but in order to be hired, you'll have to pay an up-front 'processing fee', and if you do, you'll never hear from them again.
2) You'll fill out a simple application and quickly will be 'hired', and will get paid for your training. But, in order to get your money, they'll set-up a crypto-currency account for you. They'll deposit your 'pay', but then advise that you have to keep a minimum amount in the account to keep it active, and theyu'll ask you to deposit money to reach that minimum. If you do, they'll scoop that money and close the account and you'll never hear from them again.
3) You'll be asked to download an employment application, but if you do, you'll actually be downloading malware which harnesses the power of your computer (if it's powerful enough), for crypto-mining.
NEVER respond to job-recruitment texts like this! They're all scams.
3) Watch out for emails telling you that payment has failed for online security software from companies like Norton or Macafee
The emails come from senders that initialy appear as PAYMENT-FAILED as shown in the screenshot from our good friend Ron, and warn that all your photos and files will be damaged if you don't renew NOW (there's that typical scam sense of urgency).
IF you hold your finger on the supposed name of the sender, you see that the email is actually coming from an innocous email address that bears no relation to the company being impersonated…
The email urges to you to Renew Subscription Now with a countdown timer to enhance that sense of urgency, and if you click or tap on it, it takes you to a scam website offering a really good deal on three or four tyears (or simetimes, 'lifetime') subscription for a very affordable price.
All you have to do, is give them your credit card info! DON'T DO THAT — IT'S A SCAM!
If you do, within minutes, the overseas scammers will be using your credit card info to rack up huge purchases on your account, until they get shut down by your bank who will then have to cancel your card and send you a new one.
NEVER click or tap on links in emails or texts like this.
We don't recommend Norton or Mcafee antivirus in any case, we recommend Malwarebytes Standard, But even if you were going to go with another company, you should go directly to their website and not click or tap on anything that gets sent to you.
5) Toronto police have arrested three people and have siezed a device used to defraud people in first Canadian "SMS blasters" case
Toronto police say they've arrested three people in connection to a cybercrime investigation that used "SMS blasters," a new technology not previously detected in Canada, that mimics a cell tower to defraud victims.
The investigation began in November 2025, when police were alerted to a suspected SMS blaster operating in downtown Toronto. Police later determined that the blaster was operating out of a car, which allowed it to move around the city and Greater Toronto Area.
An SMS blaster mimics “a legitimate cellular tower” that sends fraudulent text messages to connected phones with links to websites designed to steal personal, financial or log-in info. They believe tens of thousands of devices connected to the blaster over several months, with more than 13 million network disruptions identified by police.
Beyond the financial risk, police said the SMS blasters also posed a safety risk because they could cause issues with contacting emergency services like 911 due to regular cell service being intercepted.
Three men from Markham and Hamilton, ranging in age from 21 to 27, have been arrested and charged with offences including fraud and mischief.
Police say this is why it's essential to be suspicious of links in unexpected texts and to never share personal or login info by text message.
CBC
Police arrest 3 people in cybercrime investigation, seize ‘SMS blasters’ used to defraud victims | CBC News
Police say an SMS blaster mimics “a legitimate cellular tower” that sends fraudulent text messages to connected phones with links to websites designed to steal personal, financial or log-in information.
Tech Deals This Weekend
Fido, Virgin+, Koodo, and Public Mobile have ended the mobile service price war, leaving only Freedom Mobile offering great deals
Flanker brands — Fido, Virgin+, Public Mobile, and Koodo — have all changed their wireless plans, cutting data and raising prices after a short-lived price war dominated by Freedom Mobile.
Earlier this month, the flanker brands rolled out $40/60GB plans, but now those deals are gone. They've now all upped their rates while cutting or entirely removing CAN/US/MEX options.
Fortunately, Quebec-based Freedom Mobile which is owned by Quebec-based Vidéotron, is still offering deals, although they've been cutting the size of the data buckets each week, and are no longer as great as a few weeks ago...
(Last weekend, this was $45/month)
Freedom's plans all include Canada/USA/Mexico calling and data roaming, but also include a monthly allotment of "Roam Beyond" data good in 120+ countries, as well as unlimited calling in any included country and back to Canada. The best part is, all the plans are available to current customers as well as to new customers.
If you don't need a huge amount of data, Freedom also has a six-month prepaid plan that gives you unlimited Canada/USA calling and data roaming and 25GB of data, for $120 paid up front, which works out to $20/month. It renews every six months for the same price.
The only other carrier with anything close is Telus-owned Public Mobile.
Public Mobile's $35/month plan offers more data — 35GB/month vs. Freedom's 25GB/month, but Public Mobile offers Canada-only calling and data, where Freedom's works in +120 countries — and none of Public Mobile's plans include any overseas service, and none let you share your data via tethering or a hotspot…
This is their current offer.
This is what they were offering last weekend.
This is their current offer.
This is what they were offering last weekend.
Freedom's coverage is also the best of the big four carriers, because the agreement that saw them sold by Shaw when Rogers bought Shaw, allows Freedom customers to roam seamlessly at no charge onto the networks of Rogers, Telus, and Bell when they're beyond the reach of the fast-growing network of Freedom towers. That deal will continue for seven more years to give Freedom time to build-out its nationwide network.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware: $15 off at London Drugs
We're huge fans of Malwarebytes anti-malware, because it's awesome at automatically blocking bad stuff, updates itself automatically, and has virtually no impact on performance.
And again this weekend, London Drugs has a three-licence Malwarebytes Standard pack (it used to be called Malwarebytes Premium) on sale for $35 (save $20). Good for any combination of three devices — Windows, Mac, or Android (not needed for iPhones or iPads). They were sold out in-store last weekend, but are now back in stock, or you can order online…
They're back in stock: North America/European/UK travel power charger on sale for just $8 at London Drugs
When we told you about this deal last month, they sold out within an hour! In response, London Drugs has brought in more, and they've also dropped the price by an additional $2.
No more needing separate chargers for here and Europe: you can now get a Joby 20W USB-C fast-charging power charger that works here in North America and has a snap-on adapter for use in the Europe and the UK. They're usually $40, but while they last, they're on sale for just $8 — a $32 saving — at London Drugs stores (not online)…
We took two of them to Europe last summer and used them in France, Czechia, and Germany to charge our iPhones and also Suzanne's iPad and Apple Watch, while visiting our former homestay students and their families.
Tech News Of The Week
Items start at #10, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more security items above!
Tip: if an item in these Show Notes has the icon on the right in the upper-right corner, you can click/tap on it to make the additional info open in a new tab.
10) An outlook.com security update for iPhones and iPad has underscored why you must know your Microsoft account password
The issue also underscores the need to make sure all the companies that you deal with online, have more than one method of current contact info for you.
On Tuesday of this past week, Microsoft pushed out a security update for all the users of its outlook/hotmail/live email services on iPhones and iPads. The update required each person to sign back into their account. Unfortunately, the default option for proof of identity was to have a code sent to an alternate email address or phone number, and those systems crashed under the flood of millions of people around the world trying to do that. That left only the third option of "use my password", and a lot of people didn't know their Microsoft account password and were locked-out.
Microsoft quickly rolled-back the update, and restored the ID verification systems, but some people still couldn't get back in because they didn't have a current mobile number and/or alternate email address on file with Microsoft. So, several takeaways from this stressful episode:
- Make sure you carefully keep track of your passwords (including the date each time you create or change a password). Use the encrypted Password Managers built-into most web-browsers and phone and tablet operating sytems as a backup.
- Make sure the companies with which you deal have at least two current methods of contacting you — ideally a mobile number and an alternate email address. You can also use the mobile number and/or email address of someone you trust. Home numbers won't work because they can't receive a text code.
- If you change your mobile number and/or email address, take the time to log into each company with which you deal and update your contact info, just as you would if you get a new credit card.
- Take your time to solve the increasingly-difficult-to-solve puzzles we get given to prove we're not a robot. (They're getting harder to ensure AI systems can't crack them to steal identities)…
Here are examples of two which Microsoft is currently using. On the first one, you use the circled arrow keys to change the shadows on the right until they match the shadows that would be cast by the objects on the left. On the second, even-harder one, note the direction of the hand in the left image, then use the circled arrow keys to rotate the object shown at the top (in this case, a motorcycle) until its pointing in the same direction as the hand. Take your time! If you get this wrong, you'll have to solve three more.
Here's an example of another verification puzzle which Microsoft has been using recently. As in the examples above, you tap the circled arrows to rotate the image on the right until it matches the direction of the hand on the left and then you press “ Submit”.
11) Heads-up if you're travelling to Europe: their new EES system is causing massive delays on arrival at many airports
There is a new free Travel To Europe EES Pre-Registration app which you can download, but it'll only currently help you if you're flying into Sweden or Portugal
EES is Europe's new Entry/Exit System, and you only have to register it once every five years. It's free, and you do it on arrival on your first visit. But registering involves you getting your passport, face and fingerprints scanned and you entering in some personal info. Because it just took effect in April, people flying into airports in Europe have recently reported registration lines of two hours and more, causing many to missing connecting flights and trains.
If you'll be flying into Europe soon, it's recommended that you make sure a connecting flight or train doesn't leave within 3 to 4 hours of your scheduled arrival — especially if you're flying into one of the worst affected airports.
- The most-affected airports currently are Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG) in France, Madrid-Barajas (MAD, Barcelona El Prat (BCN), Málaga (AGP), Palma de Mallorca (PMI) and Tenerife South (TFS) in Spain, Frankfurt (FRA) in Germany, Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) in Netherlands, Milan Malpensa (MXP), Milan Linate (LIN), Milan Bergamo (BGY) and Rome Fiumicino (FCO) in Italy, Athens (ATH) in Greece, Brussels (BRU) in Belgium, and Vienna (VIE) in Austria.
You can download the free Travel to Europe EES pre-registration app from the Apple or Google App Store, which will let you go in an Express Lane, but there's a catch…
As of May 1st, it'll only save you time if you're flying into Sweden or Portugal, although other countries are expected to start accepting pre-registration in the coming months.
Here are some tips on how to minimize the impact of the EES rollout…
- Fly into a smaller or less-affected Schengen airport where possible — secondary hubs typically have shorter non-EU queues than mega-hubs like CDG, MAD, AMS and FRA
- Avoid the 6–10am arrival window at major hubs, when long-haul waves from Asia, the Gulf and the Americas stack up simultaneously
- Pad connections generously. Especially if you’re transiting through Pairis, Frankfurt or Amsterdam to onward Schengen destinations, aim for a minimum three-hour layover right now
- Consider routing via a non-Schengen hub like Istanbul (IST), Dubai (DXB), Doha (DOH) or London Heathrow (LHR) if your itinerary allows, so EES only happens once at your final destination
Wego Travel Blog
EES Border Queues in 2026: Where the Delays Are And How to Actually Beat Them - Wego Travel Blog
The EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) has triggered border queues of two to four hours at major European airports since full rollout on 10 April 2026. If you’re flying to Europe soon, here’s what’s actually happening on the ground, where it’s worst, and the handful of things that genuinely help beyond “arrive earlier.” Where queues […]
13) WestJet leapfrogs Air Canada’s in-flight Wi-Fi speeds thanks to Starlink
Ookla, one of the most used internet speed test companies, tracked multiple airlines to see which ones had sky-high speeds and which ones plummeted. The tests looked for two things: what percentage of planes for the most-used airlines could achieve “good internet speeds,” and how fast they actually are.
For the percentage test, Ookla compared airlines by the number of planes that could reliably hit 25Mbps download and 3Mbps upload speeds. According to Ookla, 20-40Mbps speeds are considered “good,” capable of doing either 4K streaming or online gaming.
Overall, Canada’s largest airlines, Air Canada and WestJet, scored really well in the first category. More than 80% of Air Canada planes are fitted with good internet speeds, while WestJet has more than 90% oif its fleet fitted with good internet speeds.
What truly separates the two airlines is just how fast their respective internet speeds can be. While Air Canada has a respectable — for air travel — download speed of approximately 55Mbps, WestJet blows that number out of the water with median speeds of 252Mbps. The main difference? Air Canada uses Intelsat, while WestJet uses Starlink (as do many other top-performing airlines).
15) Here's more proof of how much RAM and SSD prices are spiking
For months now, analysts have been warning us that the massive demand which AI data-centres are creating for memory chips — both RAM and SSD's — is going to create severe shortages, and we told you months ago that prices had started to shoot waaay up. Here's our depressing May update.
Using the Internet Wayback Machine (an online repository of billions of website snapshots at Web.Archive.org), I reviewed snapshots of the website of major Canadian computer component retailer MemoryExpress.com and here's what I found…
In November of 2024, here were prices for three popular SSD's…
Five months ago, in December 2025, here are screencaps of the same SSD's…
From this time last month, here are screen-captures of the prices for the same SSD's…
…and now, as of today, here are prices for those same SSD's…
A 500GB SSD has jumped from $90 to $410 in just 16 months— that's an increase of more than 355% — in just 16 months!
This is why we've been encouraging you to buy computers, tablets, phones, and any other electronics that have digital memory, now when you spot deals, because as these RAM and SSD components work their way through the supply chain, prices are shooting way up.
16) Bell Canada is now offering truly unlimited data on its top plans, but that'll cost you $85/month or $95/month (for now)
Bell (full discolsure: the parent company of C-FAX) has kicked May off with more changes to its wireless plans, including moving to unlimited data on its top-end plans. While the move to unlimited data is great, Bell has also introduced new, specific data caps for roaming and hotspot usage.
Per changes spotted on the carrier’s website by MobileSyrup.com, Bell’s $80/mo ‘Max’ plan now includes unlimited monthly 5G data, up from the 175GB cap it had before. Speeds remain the same at up to 2Gbps.
The Max plan previously included unlimited calling, texting, and data use in Canada, the USA, and Mexico. The new Max plan still has unlimited calling and texting in those locations, but Bell now caps roaming data use in the USA and Mexico to 5GB/day, followed by unlimited usage at throttled speeds of up to 512Kbps.
Bell now caps hotspot usage on the Max plan. It now includes 50GB/mo of hotspot use at the 2Gbps speed cap, followed by unlimited use at throttled speeds of up to 512Kbps.
Bell has made similar changes to its $95/mo ‘Ultra’ plan, which now offers unlimited data at up to 2Gbps speeds, up from the previous amount of 250GB/mo. Bell also capped this plan at 5GB/day of roaming data included for 65 countries, and the same 50GB/mo hotspot cap as the Max plan.
Bell is also now following the lead of Telus and Rogers and offering a 'five year price guarantee' — but the fine print on these deals is important! The price guarantee is on the base price of the plans before promotional discounts. Current top-tier rates being offered by the big three carriers include promo discounts ranging from $30- to $10- a month, so the carriers could reduce or eliminate those anytime they want within the five years and still technically not be violating the price guarantee.
17) Complaints against Rogers/Shaw nearly doubled in mid-year CCTS report, with billing issues the top concern
Telecom complaints have dramatically increased in recent months, according to the mid-year report from the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS).
The report covering data between August 1st, 2025 and January 31st, 2026, shows complaints rose by 16%, with Rogers/Shaw accounting for the highest number of complaints (34%) since reflecting their integrated branding as “Rogers together with Shaw,” as noted by the CCTS.
Among the top five service providers, Fido saw the largest increase in complaints from the 2024-2025 reporting period, rising 156% over last year. Rogers/Shaw followed with a 95% increase.
The CCTS says the increase in Fido’s complaints include concerns about charges for installation, activation, or reactivation, and regular price increase of monthly price plans. The CCTS notes “Complaints about price plans may arise when customers believe the base monthly cost of their service increased unexpectedly, or without clear notice from their provider.”
Billing issues remain the dominant complaint driver across all services. Notably, the top reported issue across all services was ‘incorrect charges for monthly price plans.’ That accounted for 15% of issues this year, and rose to 66% compared to last year’s report.
CCTS
Mid-Year Report 2025-2026
In response to requests from various stakeholders, some of our raw statistical data is now publicly available, here on our website, in an “open data” format. We hope that users will benefit from being able to access this data and we look forward to receiving their feedback.
18) If you love taking photos, Ricky Winter will be leading a free Photo Walk from the Colwood London Drugs store on May 16
Ricky, the Tech Experience Manager for London Drugs stores in the Victoria area, loves giving people tips on how to take better pictures, especially on smartphones.
On Saturday May 16, he'll be leading a free two-hour Photo Walk that'll begin at their Colwood Corners store at 1pm, and exploring the nearby Galloping Goose Trail.
Save a spot by registering now…
19) Here's a great free gift idea from NASA: a special person's name (it could be your own!) spelled-out in images from space!
NASA offers an interactive tool called Your Name in Landsat that allows yous to type a name and see it spelled out using real Earth features captured from Landsat satellite imagery.
Each letter of the name corresponds to a specific geographical feature, such as a river or a glacier, creating a visual representation of the name. You can explore and download the generated images, making it a fun and educational way to connect with Earth science.
Here's what it generated for Terry…
…and for Kathryn, our awesome producer-and-more…
Mousing over each letter (on the online generation screen) will reveal where that feature is in the world.
You can repeatedly hit the "Enter" button to have the system regenerate the name using other images, and use the one you like the best.
Try it yourself at Science.NASA.gov/mission/landsat/outreach/your-name-in-landsat
20) The Canadian government plans to ban crypto ATMs to cut-off one of the main ways scammers get money from victims
The Liberals' spring economic update on Tuesday referred to crypto ATMs as a “primary method for scammers to defraud victims and for criminals to place their cash proceeds of crime", and says as a result, they're going to be banned.
While these CryproATMs look like normal ones, they allow users to deposit cash and convert it into cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Solana, which can then be transferred to a crypto wallet and accessed from anywhere.
Canada has over 4,000 of these ATMs, the highest number in the world and just over 10 per cent of the 39,000 crypto ATMs worldwide. CBC News investigated these machines last year and discovered that these ATMs, while perfectly legal, were the main way fraudsters could get money from scam victims.
Using the ATMs is easy, which makes them the perfect tool to steal from people who don’t know any better. To make a deposit, all that anyone needs is a phone number, unless depositing over $1,000. For deposits less than $1,000, no bank account is required and no human is there to supervise transactions or catch fraudulent actions.
Currently, the machines are regulated like any other money services business (MSB) in Canada, a designation that includes foreign exchange dealers, regular ATMs and money-transfer services, like Western Union. The government’s update does say the upcoming CryptoATM ban will ensure Canadians can still buy virtual currencies from “brick-and-mortar MSBs, while better protecting MSBs from illicit activity.”
Other jurisdictions have previously taken action to fight fraud using crypto ATMs.
The U.K. effectively banned the machines by creating a licensing infrastructure in 2021 that hasn't issued any licences to operators. New Zealand is proposing a ban on the machines and Australia introduced daily transaction limits last summer following a major investigation from its financial intelligence agency and police services.
21) Despite tariffs and leaping SSD and RAM prices, Apple managed a 17% increase in Q2 revenue, and a record $29.6 billion USD profit
Apple's Q2 2026 financials report highlights a record-breaking performance with $111.2 billion in revenue, a 17% year-over-year increase.
The company reported a net profit of $29.6 billion, once again surpassing market expectations.
The strong results were driven by a surge in demand for the iPhone 17 lineup, record growth in services, and steady sales across all major product categories. revenue, with gains almost across the board that exceed the expectations of Wall Street analysts.
John Ternus' first major challenge as the new CEO of Apple will be to grapple with quadrupled iPhone memory prices. Memory currently makes up 10% of the cost of materials for an iPhone, but that is expected to be 45% by the end of this year.
One key takeaway from the usual after-earnings conference call: don't expect an updated base-model iPad till this fall. An updated model was expected back in March but never arrived; Apple CFO Kevan Parekh has strongly hinted it won't till this fall. No reason has been given, but analysts think the low profit margin on the base model has Apple earmarking hard-to-get drives and RAM for higer-priced models which have a higher profit-margin.
22) Freedom Mobile to spend $700 million this year to continue to expand its network across Canada
Quebecor, the Montreal-based firmm agtht owns Freedom, has until 2030 to build-out its national mobile network, and in the meantime, Freedom customers get to roam seamlessly for free onto Telus, Bell, and Rogers towers when they're beyond the range of a Freedom tower.
Freedom has now confirmed that it plans to spend $700 million CAD this year to build new towers to dramatically reduce the amout of roaming acess it has to pay for, followed by another $50 million a year for the next three years.
Freedom now has 4.4 million wireless customers across Ontario, BC, Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec, and Quebecor’s share price has climbed 85% since it acquired Freedom in 2023.
25) We've also started compiling a list of our favourite phone apps
The "Our Favourite Apps" list — which will have a lot more added in the coming weeks — is on our home page, and you can also get to it by going to Tech-Talk.ca/apps.
26) Kathryn's Paleontology News Item of the Week: paleontologists have found preserved blood vessels hidden inside a T. rex fossil
Despite decades of effort, scientists have never recovered dinosaur DNA.
But, now, researchers have discovered blood vessels in a fractured rib from Scotty, the world's largest T. rex fossil, and high-powered Synchrotron X-rays have revealed mineralized tissues that dramatically deepen our understanding of dinosaur biology.
Housed in the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada, Scotty is the largest T. rex ever discovered and remains one of the most complete skeletons of the species. Evidence from the bones suggests Scotty lived a rough life 66 million years ago, with many injuries that may have resulted from combat with another dinosaur or from illness. One rib in particular displayed a large fracture that had partially healed before the animal’s death.
By analyzing blood vessels produced by an incompletely healed fracture, researchers say they hope to learn how T. rex healed, helping speculation on how Scotty was able to survive after sustaining injuries. This could lead to evolutionary info comparing the vessel structures seen in Scotty to other dinosaur species, as well as modern relatives to dinosaurs like birds.
The results may also help future fossil exploration by guiding scientists to target bones that show signs of injury or disease, potentially increasing the chances of discovering more vessels or other types of preserved soft tissues.
SciTechDaily
Blood Vessels Found in T. rex Bones Rewrite What We Know About Dinosaurs
Researchers uncovered blood vessels in Scotty, the largest T. rex fossil. High-powered x-rays revealed mineralized tissues that deepen our understanding of dinosaur biology. Although much of modern paleontology is devoted to searching for organic traces in fossils, no sample of dinosaur DNA has e
Homework videos (a.k.a. "time well wasted"!)
Check out our new YouTube Favourites playlist #2:
Our original Favourites playlist maxxed-out at 5000 videos; it's here…
Videos start at #40, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more tech news items above!
40a) Watch a vido showing how to solve one of Microsoft's "Beat The Robots" identity-verification puzzles…
40b) …and another one on how to solve a different variation of the puzzle…
41) Watch a brilliant parody of British Airport logistics…
British Brainrot on Instagram: "If you’ve ever flown from a British airport, you already know. Delays, gate changes, overpriced everything, and a “smooth experience” that somehow gets worse at every
3,895 likes, 101 comments - britishbrainrot_ on May 1, 2026: "If you’ve ever flown from a British airport, you already know. Delays, gate changes, overpriced everything, and a “smooth experience” that somehow gets worse at every stage. This is the airport advert they’d never make where every “feature” is exactly what you’ve been complaining about for years. From security trays to boarding chaos, nothing is exaggerated… just finally said out loud. If you’ve stood on the runway wondering why y
42) Watch Bloomberg's Tom McKenzie explore the massive competitive threat that Chinese EV's pose for Europe and North American automakers…
43) Watch the popular French medieval group Bardcore cover Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive"…
44) Watch the highlights of the Artemis II mission in Cinematic 4K…
45) Watch (and try to not laugh): from 1991, a parody of an Australian Senator being quizzed after an oil-tanker with 80,000 tonnes of crude ripped-open…
45) Watch Lionel Ritchie and a global childrens' choir end the 2026 Breakthrough Prize ceremony with a new version of "We Are The World"…
Last Saturday night, we took our Grade 10 homestay students — Natsuki from Osaka and Sofía from Madrid — to the Centre Of The Universe atop Little Saanich Mountain so they could view the planets and distant galaxies through the 1.85m Plaskett telescope during one of their Star Parties…
Tickets for Star Parties are by donation, but always sell out within minutes when they're offered online at 5pm precesely, 11 days before each event. More info is here: CentreOfTheUniverse.org/star-parties.
We also took the girls to The Raptor Centre near Duncan, where they got to see eagles, hawks, owls, and vultures up close and personal…
(They currently do this Fly-In at 1:30pm each day) More info at The-Raptors.com
…and after that, we went just down the road a few minutes to a hidden gem: the Hand of Man Museum, which fills the former elementary school in Maple Bay; it's a mind-boggling collection of tens of thousands of items including huge dinosaur skeletons, all collected by Jim Shockey in his more than four decades of travelling the world…
The Hand of Man Museum is open 10am-5pm daily in Maple Bay near Duncan; more info is at HandOfManMuseum.com; be sure to give youself at least two hours to tour it!
Hi to "Tech Talk" listener Jacquie, who's in London, staying above this beautiful old pub…
Jacquie took our advice and switched to Freedom Mobile so she could use her iPhone while travelling without having to pay anything extra, and says it's working great.
…and finally, our "Sign Of The Week"…
And so it goes…