It’s new been a little over a week that a number of bullets hit the US embassy here in Toronto. Although the exact number of reported shots fired ranges anywhere from two to “multiple”, it’s reported that “roughly 10 shell casings” were found outside the building (so probably closer to “multiple”). Apparently the weapon used was a handgun.

According to a Toronto Police Service news release, two people drove up to the front doors of the embassy on University Avenue at 4:29 in the morning of the 10th in a white Honda CR-V, one or both of them got out, blasted the building (cops state that both individuals were involved in the “discharge of the gun”), jumped back in, and drove off toward Queen West.

A couple of days later, @TPSOperations posted that the vehicle used had been stolen but recovered somewhere in Toronto “within hours” of the shooting.

This isn’t exactly the norm for Toronto but within this odd event are nestled some even odder details.

First, it’s reported that embassy staff didn’t contact the police until an hour after the shooting. Although there’s no explanation of why they waited so long, the media consensus (as primed by the cops), seems to be that because the embassy is heavily fortified, the people working in the building probably didn’t even notice anything amiss.

What’s odd about this claim is that the building is indeed heavily fortified and surveilled (the image near the top is from one of numerous embassy cameras). Based on the embassy’s amount of obvious and public-facing surveillance equipment, not to mention being chock-full of spies, I find it difficult to believe that not a single person, security or otherwise, noticed anything amiss for an hour.

Second, according to a CTV report the incident was reported to an officer that “was flagged down in the area”. Yeah, someone (presumably) from the embassy literally went outside to look for a cop on the street to report the shooting instead of picking up a phone or walking to the nearest police station (52 Division), which would’ve taken about 5 minutes.

Third, in the same report it was stated that, “witness evidence shows that a white Honda CRV was spotted heading west on Dundas Street before turning onto University Avenue and stopping in front of the U.S. Consulate”. That’s a distance of about 190 meters (623 feet). You can see how far this is by taking a trip down University from Dundas in Google Street View:

With good eyesight it wouldn’t be impossible to spot the vehicle from Dundas but it would require standing in the middle of the southbound lanes, perhaps in the crosswalk, as the lines of sight on both sides of University are obstructed. The other possibility is that the SUV was followed by the “witness” in a vehicle but this begs the question of why anyone would’ve remembered a car pulling over for a few minutes — and nothing else.

For context, the shooting happened at around 4:30 a.m. and it was reported on by the media at around 6:30 a.m. at the earliest. Global News had already included this “witness” information in an article just before 8 a.m. yet a press conference held by the police, in which they asked for witnesses to come forward, didn’t happen until 10:30 a.m.

Going by this timeline, the “witness” saw the white SUV drive west on Dundas, turn south on University, then stop in front of the embassy. For some reason the “witness” remembered this commonplace detail but ostensibly didn’t see or hear any shots fired since the cops didn’t receive any report until an hour after it happened, and then only because embassy staff ventured out into the street to flag down a passing cop.

Standing in front of the embassy, it would’ve been equally difficult to spot the vehicle turning south from Dundas. And was this “witness” just hanging out for the hour before police showed up? The whole thing strains credulity.

Unfortunately, this event has been designated a “national security” issue which means that we may never know the full story. Still, with all of these intriguing little details I’m eager for a follow-up. Rest assured that if/when there are any updates they’ll be promptly posted here.

A Cooper’s hawk perched outside the living room window and finishing off his meal (another bird). Personally, I prefer to start my day off with a coffee.

We seem to be approaching the 6-month mark since the previous installment so, ladies and gentlemen, without further adieu I bring you a bespoke version of the most elegant:

Toronto Sunday World, 21st of May, 1922

Despite its obvious advances in everything from fashion to medicine, one may perhaps be tempted to dismiss the Toronto of over a hundred years ago as an inconsequential anachronism in the context of the modern metropolis. For example, one may point to the seemingly ubiquitous springtime intestinal troubles experienced by locals, as evidenced by the apparent popularity of certain products that appeared in advertisements of the period.

Pish posh, I say! Can one honestly claim that we don’t have to deal with different types of shit in Toronto every season?

Besides, perhaps their physical ailments were related to the introduction of inferior arsenic and strychnine into various products, or perhaps the complete absence of such healthifying ingredients in fake products (shame on the flim-flammers!), but I’m certainly no doctor so we can just go ahead and file that under “speculation”. Moreover, such an analysis fails to take into consideration the countering health benefits provided by certain yeasty tablets which, along with vitamins A, B, C, and calcium, contained only the finest and most refined naturally occurring strychnine.

There are, it must be said, many traditional concepts that we should like to dispense with but that have held through to the modern era due to their enduring aptness. Is it for me to say that they’re wrong?

Why, even non-scientific, which is to say artistic, endeavours from bygone years have stood the test of time. Should I claim that my tastes in decorative motifs are the sole and correct ones?

It’s precisely for these reasons that one should occasionally glance to the past and say, “Gee whiz, that sure was something.”

tl;dr — the story’s far from over.

Long version — yup, it’s done.

Let me explain.

Technically, /sectionb was done well over a month ago but I wanted to give it one more thorough read/edit before officially calling it a day. I suspect that an error or incongruence or two snuck in regardless but, at this point, I’ll just have to live with it or them.

That being said, I welcome you to read the first /sectionb novel online but as someone who spends time ingesting content on an ageing offline tablet, I though it might be useful to produce a few offline versions as well. You can download them, in full and for free, here:

https://www.torontocitylife.com/sectionb/download

With my bona fides in place, I wish to assure you that the dedicated /sectionb website will continue to be a place to catch up on updates and to get extra content. I make no promises but as work on the second part continues, you may find some other there stuff too.

This is a bit of an exception from my usual posts but I thought I’d add it here since people seem to have been struggling with this for years and since you can presently get this hardware around Toronto for as low as $10.

I happen to have a Rogers-branded box but I suspect this method would work just as well for any other any other branded CGN3 models. It might even work with other branded Hitron networking devices but that’s a whole lotta conjecture on my part.

Want local router, can’t log in

As mentioned, this simple bypass will only allow you to set up the CGN3 as a standalone router and assumes that you can’t log in to configure it for this purpose (otherwise just log in and configure it!) Usually this is because the device is brand-locked (e.g. to Rogers), and requires a confirmed cable internet connection before allowing you any further.

If you’re planning to use the router for cable internet access then you should go through the regular setup outlined by your ISP. If that doesn’t work then contact them for assistance (that’s what you’re paying for!)

Otherwise, use this method to connect your WiFi and wired devices together so that they can communicate. Typical uses include LAN gaming, connecting to local networked printers and scanners, using local webcams, accessing local network storage devices, local file sharing and media streaming, etc.

Instructions

1. Perform a full hardware reset on the unit and then turn it on (plug in the power supply).
   The manual claims that you only need to press and hold the hardware RESET button (the tiny button on the back that requires a paperclip), for about 10 seconds but I hold it longer just in case.
2. Use a computer or tablet to connect to the CGN3.
   The manual describes both the wired (Ethernet) and wireless (WiFi) methods. You might be able to use a mobile phone for this but I haven’t tried it and it seems like it would be a pain in the ass.
3. Fire up your favourite browser and go to the following URL:
   http://192.168.0.1/selfinstall/index.html#test_success
4. Open up the Developer Tools panel (CTRL-SHIFT-I or CMD-SHIFT-I in most browsers) and switch to the JavaScript Console tab (often just called “Console”). Then copy and paste the following code into the console, followed by ENTER:
   
   document.querySelector("#test").value = "1";
document.querySelector("#name").value = "";
document.querySelector("#pass").value = "";
initHistory();
   
5. Turn the modem off and then on again (unplug it and then plug it back in).
6. Reconnect back to the modem using your preferred method (see step 2).
7. In your browser go to:
   http://192.168.0.1/
8. Log in with the username “cusadmin” and same password as network password — blank, unless you specified some other value for the “#pass” part in step 4.
9. Configure away! (I recommend starting with changing the admin password.)

But why?

Again, it’s a cheap option if you’re looking for a wireless+wired router that supports 802.11b/g/n concurrent dual band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) along with WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK security. It’s got pretty flexible configuration options and it can even act as a Samba (network) storage server — just plug a USB storage device or two in the back.

I can’t say that the CGN3 is the best router I’ve ever used but it works pretty well, most of the time. For the money, I can’t complain.

Here’s my remix of Brad Turcotte‘s (a.k.a. Brad Sucks) “Feel Free! Plastic Surgery!” from his 2012 album “Guess Who’s a Mess“. Brad’s track is awesome but it doesn’t match my musical sensibilities (abilities?) so you’ll find that it’s a bit of a departure from the original.

This tune is the first of what I hope will become a collection or album of some kind. The idea for the Boreds of Canada name can be heard near the end of my version of the song and, besides Brad, the ditty was loosely inspired by Doxent Zsimond’s “acoustic” rendition (quotes and their contents mine). Rest assured that as soon as I discover other Canadians worthy of my deft acoustic touch I’ll be adding them to the Boreds repertoire.

FEEL FREE! TO DOWNLOAD THE MP3!
(It’s licensed under Creative Commons)
^{There’s also an instrumental version}