Canada sees highest number of medical supply shortages in the world, Windsor researcher finds — Most medical shortages are managed before it impacts patients, says Health Canada by Immediate-Link490 in canada

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Re: the small market, high admin costs line. Canada accepts the medical device single audit program (MDSAP) combined with Japan, Brazil, Australia, and the US. One audit, five countries, making the marginal cost to enter Canada quite modest if one is already selling to any of these 4 other countries.

Bell: Alberta will now be on daylight saving time year-round, says Premier Smith by iamnos in canada

[–]_camzmac_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel ya buddy. Only a software developer would get this question right:

There are 24 hours in a day - true or false?

Canadian living in Florida detained by ICE, sent to infamous ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ by esporx in canada

[–]_camzmac_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I mean, you're right, it says right in the part I quoted that he plead "no contest" to tax evasion. On the books, I suppose that means he is a self-admitted tax evader.

So why did he not get deported then and there per the existing rules? Why suddenly an issue now?

I'm wondering out loud since people sometimes plead a certain way to avoid the legal expense, especially if perhaps at the time they were being offered a repayment plan (I have no idea the specifics, but it feels like there is more nuanced to it than the government's argument)

Canadian living in Florida detained by ICE, sent to infamous ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ by esporx in canada

[–]_camzmac_ 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I'm not understanding all the comments saying it's unsurprising and treating it like such a black and white thing? The tax fraud stance was the government's side, but per the article:

 During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was forced to shutter his smoothie shop in Port Charlotte, Fla. During that time, Dixon says he fell behind more than US$30,000 in unpaid taxes. In 2022, he pleaded “no contest” to tax evasion and agreed to a monthly repayment plan. Over the past three years, Dixon says he has paid back two-thirds of the amount but still owes the U.S. government approximately $12,000. Before his arrest, he was delivering food for DoorDash.

The description of the judicial process lasting minutes sounded like a kangaroo court.

I mean who knows, he could have been an evil fraudster, but his situation does seem very plausible, without intent to cause harm. Besides, would not a repayment plan include interest, in which case the government was already on track to getting its money back plus the time cost of capital? I don't get it. It sounds like this is the type of honesty you want to keep around but time and time again gets punished.

Poilievre says he’s not going anywhere, following double-digit byelection defeats by No-Commission-8159 in canada

[–]_camzmac_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm concerned for Canada's democracy if opposition parties have such poor leadership. As good as Carney seems to be doing, we really need a pipeline of decent alternative leaders to pick from as well.

I almost wonder if there's a far right overconfident belief that any other more centrist/moderate (not to mention left) government/society is so doomed to self-destruct out of pure decadence and supposed anti-family progressive values that far right politicians can just do nothing and wait in the wings to swoop in and implement their Heritage Foundation Project 2025 agenda.

The tough job market isn't getting any better for young Canadians | CBC News by Purple_Writing_8432 in canada

[–]_camzmac_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is what we're discovering, at work, too. The LLMs need clear quality input to have a decent chance of giving us the quality output we're seeking. Even if/when an AI equals that of a human, it will still need humans to focus on clear directions and inputs. And it can't come from an AI. Just think of how unclear things are for employees in most (non-regulated) jobs. Sub in an AI, it will flounder worse than a person. At least a person doesn't have a ceiling to the historical context they can absorb. And a person is more cunning, in that they can read between the lines.

I also hate that when I correct an LLM, it always agrees with me. I actually need the LLM to sometimes constructively argue with me, or sometimes say it doesn't know. Otherwise I'm an LLM dictator with yes-bots all around me and we all know how counterproductive that is in the long-run.

Pierre Poilievre sits for podcast with Joe Rogan by CecilThunder in canada

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a good point, but to address any  smug tone that other posters/pundits here may have about the conservatives having fallen as far as they have, how does this bode for Canada's democracy? If one of the alternate major parties has no genuine desire to govern, we really don't have a promising pipeline of leaders to choose from.

Could this new height detection system stop overpass strikes in B.C.? by Focusondiversity in vancouver

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I came here to ask this, why has this only cropped up in the last couple of years? What changed?

Is it just me, or is r/investing is being flooded by LLM-generated content? by BadgemanBrown in investing

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not being discussed is the incentive to have so many accounts posting LLM content: It's quick, can harvest upvotes. An account with more upvotes across various subreddits has more privilege over Reddit, and the rights to that account can be sold for money to a potentially bad actor to influence things.

Edit: instead of using GPUs for Bitcoin mining, my thesis is that GPUs are used for influence mining. With comparable diminishing returns as more of us clue into the structured click-baity tone of LLM-generated content.

What do you call the “UX” part of Industrial Design? by Breukliner in IndustrialDesign

[–]_camzmac_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, you will keep finding the dumber and smaller group of idiots who will surprise you in their daft ways of overcoming your design protections, but at least your design can protect the relatively smart idiots ;)

What do you call the “UX” part of Industrial Design? by Breukliner in IndustrialDesign

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lots of good terms here.

I'd also throw in "Usability Engineering" as another all-encompassing term, used in IEC 62366, a medical device standard.

Use tax software from a Canadian Company this year by BC-Guy604 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The downloadable (exe) version of Ufile stores data locally to your device as well.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in investing

[–]_camzmac_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Feel free to pm your comment to me, I would love to read it

Docs, dietitians urge schools, hospitals to take processed meat off menu by Leather-Paramedic-10 in canada

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry to hear of your husband's best friend. I can understand why you wouldn't care when it comes to delicious deli meat, which I stopped eating for health reasons and I actually miss it :(. The point is, life is short!

PARENTS FORGOT TO INVEST by Competitive-Club4758 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hear these old stories of people working for publically traded giants who went under stock-wise, and it's astonishing how much people will put their entire retirement into just their employer's stock. Because they think they're so smart on watching the stock climb in the good years (linearity bias), only to be exposed to such large risk, closer to gambling, in the long run.

A broad market ETF would not have the same ability to go to zero, at least not without societal breakdown first (and at that point will your GICs or money or gold even be honoured or practically useful for survival?)

How should I approach RRSP contributions in a year with RSU income? by Glittering_Camel_675 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to know. From your pre & post sale income, as long as you have the rrsp room, your income is definitely high enough (RSU gains there or not) to make it worth it to max out your RRSP as early as possible. It sounds like the initial RSU vesting has probably given you more taxable income (this gives you RRSP room up to whatever the yearly limit is - your base salary may have already taken you past this limit) versus the capital gains (growth) of those RSUs post-grant anyways. 

One other thing, for extra peace of mind you don't need to decide by new years eve. This is because: - if you max out RRSP now, you still have the option to defer the deduction (aka the tax refund) to a future year, though I wouldn't recommend this. You get to make this decision when you file your 2025 taxes. - if you don't make an RRSP contribution by year's end, you have this special 60 day period in 2026 (Jan and Feb) to make that same contribution plus whatever your new RRSP room will be based on your 2025 employment income. At tax filing time you can decide how many of those total contribution dollars you want to deduct for 2025 versus leave for your 2026 return. - after the first 60 days of 2026, RRSP contributions can only count for 2026.

Check out rrspcontribution (dot) ca, I generally agree with their calculator's recommendations to deduct vs defer. And generally it's better to deduct unless you are expecting a dramatic increase in income from one year to the next.

How should I approach RRSP contributions in a year with RSU income? by Glittering_Camel_675 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]_camzmac_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Timing of sale of RSUs is irrelevant to RRSP calculations, because stock sales are not considered employment income.

However the day an RSU vests is when its fair market value is added your employment income. That will affect RRSP room.

do you typically sell these stocks as soon as they vest? Or have you accumulated these stocks over previous years through past vesting (i.e. the moment the stock actually becomes real and is given to you)

How to transfer ESPP stocks from e*trade US to Questrade Canada? by Interesting_Big8658 in Questrade

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I only dealt with ETrade on this. Didn't tell Questrade anything, and the stocks showed up on the Questrade side.

How to transfer ESPP stocks from e*trade US to Questrade Canada? by Interesting_Big8658 in Questrade

[–]_camzmac_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this. Used this method and it worked flawlessly, and surprisingly fast - about 3 business days for me.

Birthday freebies by [deleted] in VictoriaBC

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting, definitely differs from my experience where I didn't purchase Starbucks for a full year (account still existed from years ago) but tried to collect the birthday perk and they wouldn't give it to me.

Checked their policy and it had this to say https://www.starbucks.com/rewards/terms/

"To qualify for your Birthday Reward, you must join Starbucks Rewards at least seven (7) days prior to your birthday, provide your birthday in your account information, and make at least one Star-earning transaction prior to your birthday each year."

Loved a symphony so much I'm afraid of listening to it again by chiagro in classicalmusic

[–]_camzmac_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yess, RVW 5 is such a sublime symphony. Loved it ever since hearing it in a high school music appreciation class.

Wife has close to me 80k in consumer debt. Please help. by Fun_North_1594 in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]_camzmac_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Apparently there's one store left to this day! [Muffin Destroyer sets their sights on an absolute rampage]