Lark Harbour: Fangzhou He's Love Laughter in aid of the family of Richard Stewart [April 9]

From the March 28th article "'I always wanted to pay it forward': Comedy magician believes in giving back while making people laugh - Fangzhou He to perform in Lark Harbour in aid of family of man killed in avalanche" by Diane Crocker in the Saltwire Network: 

So, he turned his show at Myrtle’s into a fundraiser for Stewart’s family to help them and to help promote their GoFundMe on his social media.

Turning his shows into fundraisers, when he hears a story like Stewart’s or of some other way he can help out a community, is something that grew out of his own experience on the road as the Hitchhiking Comedian.

Read more.

From the March 15th Facebook post by Myrtles on the Bay:

Hey everyone this show has now turned into a fundraiser in aid of Richard Stewart family who we all know are grieving at this time and sure would use the extra help . Richard left behind his Fiancé and three beautiful children. Half of the proceeds raised on the door will be donated to the family so please get out show your support at the same time have some laughter . Thanks in advance god bless you all 😊

Magic & Comedy tour (Live Taping with Wes Barker and Chris Ramsay) [May - June]

Catch Chris Ramsay and Wes Barker on their upcoming Magic & Comedy tour! 

 

From WesBarker.ca:

• CALGARY - MAY 1 - Tickets
• VANCOUVER - MAY 2 (on sale soon)
• VICTORIA - MAY 3 - (on sale soon)
• WINNIPEG - JUNE 15 - Tickets
• TORONTO - JUNE 17 - (on sale soon)
• MONTREAL - TDB
  

Check back for updates!

 

 

The Big Trick Energy Live show has been cancelled because we are not popular enough to fill arenas. (Makes sense)

Instead, Wes and I are booking smaller venues across Canada! Click the linktree in my bio for info!! pic.twitter.com/JYKiHx3d5Q

— Chris Ramsay (@chrisramsay52) March 30, 2022

 

PSA: Why you shouldn't use pixelation for redacting text

A public service announcement for those of you who sometimes post images of potentially sensitive documents online.

 

We came across this February 15th article "Never, Ever, Ever Use Pixelation for Redacting Text" by Dan Petro at Bishop Fox:

Today, we’re focusing on one such technique – pixelation – and will show you why it’s a no-good, bad, insecure, surefire way to get your sensitive data leaked.

Read more.

 

Always curious about evolving technology, we searched about the interwebs for a suitable photo on which to experiment.

 

Exhibit A: Photo of adorable kitten on laptop

By enlarging the image with Adobe Photoshop Elements, we see a dialogue box with a familiar header. (We think it reads "Find & Replace.")

Exhibit B: This dialogue box is likely labelled "Find & Replace"

Using Photoshop Element's "Correct Camera Distortion" function to square it up, modifying brightness/contrast, and then inputting a De Bruijn sequence of the correct font (based on our guess as to the dialogue box label), we get the partial image cleaned up not too badly!

Exhibit C: It is a "Find & Replace" header!

Building on that success, let's now look at a snippet of the document.  What could the text be?

Exhibit D: Blurry document

Applying the same techniques (bicubic resizing, modifying brightness/contrast, applying Correct Camera Distortion) we get a nice flat perspective of the document.

 

Exhibit E: Flat perspective of document

 

 

 

Inputting the previously used De Bruijn sequence, we get our final product!

 

 

Exhibit F: Happy April Fools' Day!

 

 

Have a great day!!!

Top 5 posts in March 2022

There were 32 posts at Canada's Magic this month.  Here are the 5 most viewed posts in the past 30 days: 

5. Opening soon: Dave Curran's Jokers - Looking forward to learning more about this project!

4. FISM Quebec 2022: Talent - Soooo much talent at FISM this summer!

3. Toronto: WonderPhil live at Bridlewood Mall [Mar 18] - Live shows are back!

2. Masters of Illusion Live [April & September] - Great news that Chris Funk is joining the Western Canada part of the tour!

and the most viewed post this month  ...

1. Sleightly Sketchy: It's the sourdough starter of Omicron - It's everywhere.

 

Toronto: Used book collection sale [April 23]

Quick note:

• for the first time in two years, the Browser's Magic Club will be hosted this Saturday April 2nd!
  [Full details in the latest newsletter.]
  

 

 

From the March 22nd Facebook post by The Browser's Den of Magic:

We are very pleased to inform you that on the date and time above, there will be a collection of over 150 used books out for sale at our shop.

The books range in price from $5.00 to over $200.00.   Sorry, there is no list or previewing of the collection in advance.

Kindly note this is not an auction.  The used books will be throughout our shop for you to consider at 10:00am.

We would appreciate that this being our first larger event in over two years coupled with the fact that our shop is not a large space, that everyone wears a mask to enter.