Tech

The Bakersfield Condors prospect that commands your attention? Evan Bouchard – Toronto Sun

Published

5 years ago

January 6, 2020

Evan Bouchard, the youngest player on the Bakersfield Condors, is also the one that commands your attention.

Bouchard’s game has picked up considerably in a number of key aspects from both his spring of 2019 AHL playoff run, and with his play earlier this year in preseason with the Edmonton Oilers and at the start of the 2019-20 campaign with the Condors.

His improvement is marked, which is another way of saying that Edmonton has its prime prospect in exactly the right spot, right where he’s developing in strong fashion, in the AHL frying pan but not in the fire of the NHL spotlight.

I checked in on AHLTV now and then to watch the Condors and just watched their two weekend wins, 3-2 and 2-1, over the San Diego Gulls. I wasn’t looking for Bouchard necessarily, though I was curious about his play, especially with his not-so-nice -11 goals plus-minus. Was that stat really indicative of his play?

The Condors now have 14 wins in 32 games, but are four wins and a loss in their last five games. They’re much improved, largely because they’re now getting strong netminding from Stuart Skinner, 21, who struggled mightily earlier this year after veteran Shane Starrett got hurt.

But Bouchard’s improved game is also another reason the Bake is starting to cook.

I’ll not only talk about him today but show you a series of videoclips from the two San Diego games.

In the first, we see Bouchard with the puck in his own zone, stickhandling his way out of trouble. The play looks a bit iffy, but Cool Hand Bouch has outstanding dexterity stickhandling.

He could stickhandle in a phone booth, as we said in the days when there were phone booths.

Next up we see Bouchard on the ice at the end of the game, trusted by coach Jay Woodcroft to protect a one-goal lead, calmly grabbing up the puck in the defensive slot and advancing it towards the empty net. In the defensive slot, Bouchard does not wield a battle axe like Adam Larsson, nor does he have that cowboy-wrassling-a-steer courage and intensity of Kris Russell. In fact, Bouchard is the opposite. He’s not nasty and he’s never looks too rushed, but he’s doing a better job of being in the right place at the right time, mainly because he’s strong at reading the game, even this early in his career. He’s got one fundamental down, in that his head is always on a swivel, him looking for the open man, the danger man who might get the puck, and Bouchard takes care to move towards that player, not forget that he’s there.

Next, we go to a typical Bouchard play at this level, him winning the puck with his long stick and good reach, then deftly threading a pass to a breaking player.

Whether he’s head-manning the puck, passing D-to-D, or banking the puck off the boards to a teammate, the thing I notice about Bouchard is his passes are invariably right on the tape. For an Oilers fan who has endured too many non puck-moving Edmonton d-men killing the Oilers’ attack before it can get started, it’s just a wee bit thrilling to think about Bouchard making such passes in Edmonton. Again, this isn’t to say that Bouchard is ready for the NHL. He’s doing great just now in Bakersfield, so let that continue for the rest of the year. Fortunately, Edmonton has solid defensive depth, so there’s no need to rush him.

In this next clip we see some bad and good from Bouchard. First, he gets beat in the neutral zone on a play, leading to a two-on-one break for the Gulls. Bouchard is doing a much better job in the neutral zone of playing up on his man, not allowing easy entries in the Condors zone, but he does get beat now and then by speedy opposing breakout plays. On this one, though, he wins the puck in the corner and quickly works a give-and-go to get a sneaky quick high slot shot on net.

Bouchard does an excellent job of joining the attack, and in this next clip we see him start the rush with a quick and accurate tape-to-tape pass, then him charging up to force the play at the offensive blueline, leading to a Bakersfield chance.

There’s some worry about Bouchard’s skating. Indeed, he’s going to have to pick it up a bit to excel in the NHL, but we’ve seen that kind of improvement from Ethan Bear. And, as we see in the next clip, Bouchard is an OK skater at the AHL level, partly because he’s really moving his feet now, getting after pucks and moving fast to pass them out of trouble. Plus, he’s got that outstanding puckhandling and passing to make the most out of a tough situation where he’s being harassed by an opposing forechecker.

This next clip is one of my favourites. On the play, the Condors are defending a fast developing San Diego attack, and Bouchard organizes his teammates, pointing to Joe Gambardella that he should take the trailing player. Very often when a player points for a teammate to take a player, he’s pointing at the wrong player, or it’s a player that the pointer should actually be covering himself. But in this case, Cool Hand Bouch correctly identified whom Gambardella should check, then made sure to cover the right player himself, thus helping to thwart the opportunity. That kind of reading of a play on the fly and communicating to a teammate in the heat of dangerous opposing rush is notable.

Right now, Bouchard is being paired up with veteran Keegan Lowe. Bouchard is being used in all situations, the power play, penalty kill, against tough comp at even strength and at the ends of periods when sound defensive play is needed. This is the perfect situation for him right now. If he can continue to develop his game and stay healthy, it’s hard to imagine he won’t be in the NHL some time next season, if not right out of training camp. With him in the line-up, along with Oscar Klefbom, Ethan Bear and maybe even Caleb Jones, the Oilers would be able to ice four strong puck-passing d-men, which will be one more step in the transformation of this team from perennial loser to perennial playoff contender.

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Tech

Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

Published

3 days ago

November 6, 2024

Anne Joseph

The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

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Health

Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Tech

Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

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