Sex ed app brings answers to your phone

By

-

July 29, 2013

A new London-based startup is trying to teach young people about sex, and going to the most likely place they’ll look: the App Store.

Founder Fabrizio Dolfi described how a couple of years ago he was on a train reading an article about STDs on his mobile phone. The article that talked about the issue of young people not seeking medical attention when they think something may be going on down south.

“[Young people] avoid or delay seeing a doctor mainly due to embarrassment. Embarrassment that others might find out about their condition . . . Embarrassment, mostly among guys, to drop their pants in front of a stranger,” explained Dolfi. “Because of that many just wait, hoping that whatever it is will go away by itself.”

In an effort to avoid situations where young people avoid or ignore STDs or health problems to do with their sex life, Dolfi came up with the idea to bring sexual health information to young people through their mobile devices, with the My Sex Doctor (MYSD) app.

Because of that many just wait, hoping that whatever it is will go away by itself.”

– Fabrizio Dolfi, MYSD App Creator

“I realised that a large part of the problem regarding young people and STDs have to do with insufficient education,” said Dolfi. “That’s when I came up with the idea of an app that would have given them easy access to minimum knowledge required to properly manage this new function of their body that activates by itself during puberty: sexuality.”

The recently released app, which is available in a lite and a $1.99 paid version, gives a comprehensive overview of sexuality and answers the most common questions that Dolfi and his team found that young people have. During their preliminary research, the team asked young people to write down the 10 questions or doubts about their sexuality that bothered them the most, and used this information to create the app. Dolfi also had a friend who was completing a PhD in sexology at the time to weigh in on content.

The finished result is a sexual database, complete with a list of sexual topics that include various types of sexual activities, pregnancy, a dictionary that defines sexual terms such as “back door” and “mons pubis”, and a list of the “100 Things You Must Know.”

“The ultimate purpose of the app is to change the way people access sex education,” said Dolfi. “To free them from the embarrassing conversations with parents or relatives, from hours spent online reading . . . to avoid getting the wrong ideas from misinformed friends or adult entertainment.”

He continued, “We think sexuality is a fact of life, it just happens. The same should be true for sex education. As young people mature they should have easy access to information about sexuality, and our app tries to provide precisely that.”

SFU mourns loss of student activist

By

EIC

-

July 29, 2013

0

Last week was challenging for SFU staff and students alike, as the community began to mourn the tragic loss of student and campus activist Michael McDonell.

McDonell, who graduated from SFU in June with a major in Sociology and minors in Labour Studies and Humanities, was to begin graduate work in September. The 24 year-old passed away in hospital on Sunday after an accident occurred at Sasamat Lake. McDonell was swimming off of White Pine Beach when he got into distress, and was under water for at least five minutes before being pulled out.

Aside from being an excellent student who received first class grades in most of his courses as well, as one of the first granted Hari Sharma student awards in Labour Studies, McDonell was actively involved in the SFU community — in the Sociology and Anthropology Student Union (SASU), the Labour Studies Student Union, and with Left Alternative. He had also been a director at SFPIRG where he helped to produce a “strategic vision for the organization,” while “acting as employer for staff.”

In the short time since McDonell’s death, numerous student groups at SFU have organized events in his honor. Last Thursday in Freedom Square on Burnaby Campus, SASU held a barbeque, with all proceeds going toward helping McDonell’s family with funeral costs. Community members gathered to speak with each other about their memories of Michael and to share in the event that he himself helped plan for a student union that he was heavily involved in.

The McDonell family held a celebration of Michael’s life on Saturday, July 27 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Halpern Centre at SFU Burnaby Campus where friends and colleagues were encouraged to say a few words about Michael.

Warren and the Labour Studies Student Union will be hosting an informal celebration of McDonell’s life at the pub, which will provide food and operate as a fundraiser to help the McDonell family recuperate some of the funeral costs. The day and time are still to be determined, and all are welcome to attend.

Although the pain of the loss of McDonell will never go away, the love and support felt this week by his friends and family are testament to the impact he made at SFU.

“While it pains me to acknowledge that he is no longer with us, I am lucky to have had the chance to know him,” said Gloria Mellesmoen, SFSS education representative and a friend of McDonell’s. “I know that I will never forget him or the way he shared his passion with the world.”

The multitude of comments that McDonell’s family has received since Sunday speaks volumes to his character and influence in the SFU community, and we have included several below.

“His GPA and his organizational involvement were testaments to someone who was comfortable combining academic and activist roles. He succeeded well in both, and was widely respected for his student involvement. As for his potential, well, we all have more potential than is ever realized, but in his case, what he achieved in his short time was admirable.

His contribution to classroom discussions and his involvement in student politics revealed a person who calmly got done what had to be done. He was a model of modesty and quiet assurance that made others feel confidence in him and in themselves. He was highly regarded by his peers and others with whom he studied and worked.”

– Dr. Gary Teeple, Director for the Labour Studies Program, and one of Michael’s Sociology instructors

“After nearly a decade away from full-time studies and wishing to re-enlist in campus activism, I was advised to seek out Michael McDonell as he would be good for collaborating. My first day back we met by happenstance and I soon learned how modest that referral was. Michael became the anchor for the LSSU and, I quickly realized, was literally a hub unto himself for social justice at SFU. His dedication was tireless, his efforts selfless.

A shining example of the quality of character we should all aspire toward. In a troubled world such as ours, humanity is in dire need of more Michael McDonell. I am grateful for knowing him. He will be missed.”

– Joel Warren, Chair, Labour Studies Union

“I knew [Michael] as a member of the SFU community and as a friend. He always had a smile on his face and a social justice issue to advocate for, no matter where we were. He was incredibly intelligent and passionate about almost everything that he spoke about. Michael was an amazing friend and a selfless person. He was a brilliant man who was a valuable part of the SFU community. When I think of the word ‘engaged,’ I think of Michael.”

– Gloria Mellesmoen, Education Representative, SFSS Board of Directors

“Always there and involved, always committed to making the world a better place. Michael was the best of people, a true advocate. The world is lesser without him in it. It’s up to us to take his batons and keep his actions and dreams in our hearts and minds.

I think that if everyone who knew him would join just one of the many causes he loved that were working towards a better world, we could make that world happen.”

– Melissa Roth, TSSU organizer

Throwback Album Reviews: Rush, Fiona Apple, and The Beatles

By

Peak Web

-

July 29, 2013

0

Rush – Hemispheres

Rush has been together for almost 40 years, and though mainstream success has by and large eluded them — save for a string of modestly popular albums in the early 80s — they have inspired a devoted following made up of people who are fond of irregular time signatures, calculated guitar solos and science fiction-inspired lyrics.

I am not one of these fans: I respect them and acknowledge their existence, but I observe them in the same way I might observe a Norwegian soap opera sans subtitles.

It’s hard to deny Rush’s technical ability — Neil Peart’s drumming, especially, is surely among the most creative of the rock and roll canon — but Hemispheres, often considered a high water mark of the band’s lengthy career, does nothing for me.

The album opens with “Cygnus X-1: Book II,” a musical suite which spans 18 minutes and recounts the story of a deity looking to reconcile a populace divided into two separate hemispheres — a Cold War parable? Lead vocalist and bassist Geddy Lee’s irritating wail does little to lend weight to Peart’s lofty lyrics.

“Circumstances” and “The Trees” are similarly uninspiring — the latter track seems trapped between self-parody and straight-faced conviction, whereas the former’s homesick balladry is undercut by a repetitive chorus and a corny keyboard interlude.

Closing track “La Villa Strangiato,” which stands as the trio’s first instrumental, is unequivocally Hemisphere’s finest moment, though this may be because Geddy Lee does not sing. In any case, the song’s stream-of-consciousness format quickly becomes tiresome, and the album’s remarkably short runtime — only 36 minutes, unheard of for a prog rock album — came as a happy surprise.

Ultimately, it comes as little surprise that the group’s next album, Permanent Waves, completely abandoned expansive musical suites and strived towards more economic, structural songs. Hemispheres ultimately strikes me as a failed experiment, albeit a noble one. At least “Spirit of the Radio” is pretty good.

Fiona Apple – When the Pawn…

Though its album title is novelistic and its subject matter occasionally maudlin, Fiona Apple’s sophomore LP is full of brilliant musicality, gorgeous vocals and lyrics that are equal parts sympathetic and self-deprecating.

Coming off the heels of her immensely popular debut Tidal, When the Pawn… effectively ups the ante: the songs on this record simply sound better, due in no small part to studio wizard Jon Brion, whose lush production and theatrical string arrangements complement Apple’s raw, unhinged vocal.

Her singing, which has always been her strong suit, befits her creative songwriting: the Burlesque snarl of “On the Bound” and the syncopated hip-hop beats of “Fast As You Can” only serve to highlight Apple’s uniquely impressive chops.

Apple’s lyrics matured along with her music: she yearns for casual spontaneity in “A Mistake”, casts a weary eye on conventional romance in “The Way Things Are” and performs autopsy on a broken affair in “Love Ridden.”

Though I tend to lean towards Apple’s sparser efforts — namely her most recent LP, The Idler Wheel… — the opulent orchestration on tracks like “Get Gone” is playful enough to stave off accusations of melodrama.

Even the album’s catchiest numbers, like “To Your Love” and “Paper Bag,” are given balance by grace of Apple’s acidic wordplay and charisma.

The biggest triumph of Apple’s tunes is that each one is wide open, leaving the listener to pick them apart and interpret each sentence. Lines like “Maybe some faith would do me good” might sound sarcastic or sincere on any given listen, and her music is all the more relatable for it.

When the Pawn… is a complex and ambitious album, but it’s also inviting and unpretentious, tailor-made for sufferers of the human condition with just enough flair to assure Apple a consistent fan base for decades to come.

The Beatles – Rubber Soul

Sandwiched in between The Beatles as teen heartthrobs and The Beatles as serious musicians is Rubber Soul. This LP is full of firsts: first marijuana-inspired songwriting session (courtesy of Bob Dylan), first instance of George’s long love affair with the sitar, and the first time that the group retained complete artistic control in the studio.

The results are predictably rewarding. The songs on Rubber Soul flirt with psychedelia, R&B and chamber pop. Some of them are among the group’s best contributions ever, especially John’s: the gentle, nostalgic “In My Life” is about the closest he’d ever verge towards sentimentality, and the mature anti-love story of the Dylan-inspired “Norwegian Wood” silences any lingering whispers of hand-holding or she-loves-yous.

Paul’s contributions are less notable, albeit far from unremarkable. “You Won’t See Me” boasts an industrial-strength hook, and album opener “Drive My Car” is bouncy and lovable. George, on the other hand, has a chip on his shoulder: “Think For Yourself” is downright cruel, and “If I Needed Someone” does little to soothe the burn.

Still, Rubber Soul may be the most overrated entry in the Fab Four’s canon. Paul’s faux-Français “Michelle” is sappy, and John’s “Girl” is overly similar; elsewhere, John’s “Run For Your Life” is easily the quartet’s most misogynistic number, and Ringo’s performance on “What Goes On” is, well, about as good as any of his other lead vocals.

As a checkpoint in The Beatles’ discography, Rubber Soul may be the most important: nothing would be the same afterward, and nothing had sounded quite like this before. But with the shadow of Revolver and Abbey Road looming in the horizon, it’s hard not to see Rubber Soul as more of a stepping stone than a milestone.

Word on the Street: Royal Baby Name

By

EIC

-

July 29, 2013

0

I didn’t get it. I don’t know how though, I used my winning golf-betting strategy . . . how could they not name the baby Tiger Woods?

Murray McFadden, Also had money on the name “Prince Ernie Els of Cambridge”

I came pretty close, I had Ringo Alexander Louis.

Louise Foreman, Was one Beatle off

Oh shit, is it too late to guess?

Geno Pandapiglio, Forgot about his annual Royal Baby Name Pool this year

I messed up . . . I thought people only had one name like an idiot!

Dale Grundy, Idiot

I got it. They named him Ringo, right?

Phil McDonald, Really? Another one?

University Briefs

By

EIC

-

July 29, 2013

0

Shelter from the storm

The University of Calgary has taken in over 300 flood evacuees from across southern Alberta, housing them in the campus’ residence buildings, which have more space in the summer semester.

Since the massive flooding that began on June 19 and has forced over 100,000 Albertans from their homes, there has been a continuous flow of evacuees into U of C residence. According to City of Calgary community development worker Zorian Klymochk, what was “supposed to be a 72-hour response [has] turned into a three-week response.”

With funds provided by the municipal and federal government, evacuees have been given rooms and access to different services on campus, including internet access and food cards for the residence dining services. However, all evacuees will soon be moved again, as new students begin moving into residence in August.

With files from The Gauntlet

Guerrilla gardening gunning for greenspace

Trent University alumnus Nicholas Weissflog is combatting the neglect of unused land with a new project called guerrilla gardening. This socio-ecological initiative capitalizes on unused land to create vegetable gardens and plants that are free to the public.

These guerrilla gardens have sprouted up in six locations around Peterborough since Weissflog found the project in his third year of Ecological Restoration at Trent. For Weissflog, the importance of the project lies not just in creating green spaces, but growing vegetables that “are for the public to enjoy freely, addressing poverty and access to fresh and local produce.”

With files from Arthur

Queen’s professor victim of hate crimes

History professor Karen Dubinsky received two threatening letters earlier this July telling her and her same-sex partner to move from Kingston or be subject to “deadly serious consequences.”

The letters, which were sent by members of a Christian group based in the “Deep South,” claim to have relocated other “people like you” from the Kingston area, and tell the women that they “are not going to be safe at home, office, or anywhere else” if the message is ignored.

Since receiving the letters, Dubinsky and her partner, Susan Belyea, have received lots of community support, culminating in two rallies held the weekend after receiving the letters. “It’s like a symphony of love here, it’s crazy,” said Belyea.

With files from The Journal

Humour Editor’s Google Search History from this Week

By

EIC

-

July 29, 2013

0

– definition of word “belt”

– vancouver whitecaps schedule

– how much water is in the human body?

– brad mcleod

– brad mcleod humour

– brad mcleod cool

– lukemia

– lukaemia

– did batman ever have a mustache?

– photo album reviews

– pizza hut hours?

– brad mcleod cool guy

International Headlines

By

EIC

-

July 29, 2013

0

Karate master wearing black suspenders after misplacing his belt (Waist Accessories Magazine)

Man cuts down entire forest in an attempt to find out how old the trees are (Village Idiot Voice)

Vanilla Coke receives competition from new drink “Pepsi Bland” (Novelty Beverage Times)

Video review shows that North Korean team won every World Cup ever (North Korean Free Press)

Controversial bill banning adoption finds out it was adopted (Newspaper Weekly)

Photo Album Reviews

By

EIC

-

July 29, 2013

0

Artist: Stephanie McNeal

Album: My European Vacation 2013

At first glance this might just seem like another college student’s collection of pictures from a summer trip to Europe but if you look a little closer and really take this album in, I think you might just become certain that this is exactly what it is.

Being the sophomore release to her wildly popular 2011 debut photo album, Calgary Stampede / My 20th Birthday, McNeal was met with a lot of expectations from friends and family when she announced the release of My European Vacation. However, any doubts that McNeal would have too much fun to sufficiently capture her trip visually were shot dead by this highly comprehensive, beautiful and original photo album.

Although the production of the album remains low-key, using the same $300 DSLR she used to make her first album, My European Vacation represents somewhat of a coming-out party for McNeal as a more adventurous and yet more mature photographer. Gone are the gimmicky sepia filters and fake fisheye-lense-effects that plagued her debut, which are replaced by more subtly composed and photoshopped pics.

At the same time though, McNeal still isn’t afraid to take chances which is evidence particularly by photos 36 and 37, which were both taken inside the Vatican with a flash, breaking several rules of proper etiquette, tour-regulations and Catholicism.

While most people who have viewed the album (which was released on July 24 after months of promotional leaks on Instagram) would agree the album is probably about 5-6 pictures too long, they’d probably be hard pressed to come to a consensus on which ones to remove (probably that holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa one).

Although plans for a physical release have not been announced, the album can be downloaded and viewed by the public on McNeal’s Facebook page with a special edition featuring about 25 unreleased pictures from a bar night in Bratislava available if you’re a confirmed friend of McNeal’s.

Overall, the album really takes the you on a journey, from Madrid to Barcelona, to Paris, then Brussels and Amsterdam with some layover at the Dallas, Texas airport food court.

Artist: Happy Wedding Photography Ltd.

Album: Brian and Natasha’s Wedding

Releasing a new album more than once a month for the past eight years, Happy Weddings Photography Ltd. might just go down as of the most prolific photo-album producers of all-time.

While Brian and Natasha’s Wedding may not live up to the standards set by the 2009 masterpiece Tim and Stephen’s Wedding or the groundbreaking Allen and Gina’s Wedding from last year, it’s still a solid release from lead photographer Jerry Turnbull and his associates.

Although the company’s lineup of photographers has changed radically since they first released Martin and Harriet’s Wedding almost a decade ago, the group has always had Turnbull front and center to orchestrate some of the greatest mixes of genuine-loving and “hey we’re just being silly” bride and groom shots ever recorded.

Like so many of their albums, B & N’s W is a hit-and-miss, with some pictures finding the couple in a perfect moment of love while others reveal that they actually kind of hate each other for a great deal of the time they’re together.

However, when it’s good, it’s very good, and the black-and-white picture from the middle of the album of the two in each other’s arms in front of an all white background deservingly became a breakout-hit after appearing on their wedding cake, gracing the cover of their thank-you letters and serving as the pairs facebook profile pictures for a combine eight months.

While the album is best viewed in its hardcover format which features a gorgeous floral design, its availability is scarce and the album has been most successful on its DVD version (personally, I just got the torrent). The DVD also contains a lot of original music which is a side-hobby of Turnbull’s but I won’t really get into that because you can’t really review that kind of thing.

Anyway, B & N’s W is a solid but not great effort from the illustrious Happy Weddings Photography Ltd. and while it may be pleasant viewing for some, such as those who know Brian Alkermiher and his new wife Natasha, if you’re in the mood for a really powerful photo album, I recommend looking elsewhere.

(Throwback Review)

Artist: The Johnson Family

Album: Disneyland (1997)

Despite this being the only photo album released before their tumultuous break-up, the Johnson family’s collection of stills from their trip to Disneyland in 1997 remains an enjoyable, nostalgic trip down memory lane.

Even without the digital technologies of today’s camera equipment, Disneyland is still a marvel to look at today with over a hundred high-quality, timeless photos. Even it’s worst photos are classics by today’s standards, with pics like “kid standing with Goofy” and “on-ride Space Mountain photo” highlighting a stellar album.

While some of the clothing worn in the pictures might be a tad dated, the foursome of lead photographer and father, Michael, wife Marissa and kids Andy and Susie, capturing of the essence of wholesome family fun at an amusement park is as strong as any contemporary family photo album or their trip to an amusement park.

Disneyland is a really fun photo album and is relentless in its quest to fulfill Michael’s goal to “have something to remember our trip to Disneyland by,” a goal that at the time seemed like just the beginning of an great photo album career.

Unfortunately, as is the case with so many great family photo album-makers, the family’s private life was not as solid as it seemed in still photographs and a nasty divorce would send them in different directions in which they would never reclaim their former glory.

Michael attempted several solo-photo albums during the early 2000s, but never got around to getting them developed. His ex-wife Marissa and her new husband Ron did end up producing a couple of photo albums with the family’s kids since then but titles like Knott’s Berry Farm (1999) and Disneyworld (2002) just feel like sad attempts to recreate their former magic.

While almost the entire family is no longer making albums, instead choosing to just put their pictures on SD cards, Michael has worked on updating some of his old photo albums including one he made with Happy Weddings Photography Ltd., Michael and Marissa’s Wedding which now features several pics with a headless bride.

The only member of the family who is still actively making albums is Susie, now 17, who just put the capper on her latest series of self-reflective photos of herself using her bathroom mirror, Mobile Uploads, which has received considerable attention from her classmates and creeps on the internet.

Despite being somewhat of a “one-hit wonder,” Disneyland is still a brilliant photo album filled with mixtures of highs and lows, beauty and despair, tragedy and triumph, and out of focus pictures of palm trees.

Article Correction Correction

By

EIC

-

July 29, 2013

0

In last week’s article correction of an article from the previous week entitled “‘ASS’ inducted into Arcade Hall of Fame,” it was stated that one of the video game enthusiast quoted, Todd O’Neal, was described erroneously as a “Nerd.” Although we apologized, describing it as “a careless and insensitive mistake” and stated that Todd was actually more of a“Dweeb,” it turns out that “Dweeb” is more offensive than “Nerd.” Just like last week, The Peak offers its sincerest apologies for yet another error.

Five Hole For Food ends tour in Vancouver

By

EIC

-

July 29, 2013

0

On Saturday, July 20, Granville Street was even busier than usual for a beautiful weekend day. Beyond signs that read “Will play hockey for food,” non-profit organization Five Hole For Food had set up shop between Robson and Smithe.

Five Hole For Food is a national, volunteer driven organization with a basic goal: to raise food for local food banks. Started by SFU MBA student Richard Loat, the team travelled across Canada from the East to the West, starting on July 3 in St. John’s and ending up in Vancouver, where they took over Granville Street from noon to 6:00 p.m. This was the team’s fourth tour.

The tour invited hockey lovers as well as those just looking to contribute to a good cause to come out and bring their hockey stick and a can of food. Over the past three years, Five Hole For Food has raised over 200,000 pounds of food to support local food banks. On this tour alone they raised over 345,000 pounds of food, blowing past their goal of 250,000 pounds. Vancouver’s contribution totalled over 70,000 pounds.

Nicole Van Zanten, Five Hole For Food’s director of digital and web, said that the energy in Vancouver was “amazing. Out in the maritimes it’s wonderful — a lot of small towns, a lot of small-knit communities — but here it’s big, and everybody comes down and social’s just been buzzing all day.”

Social media is imprinted in the identity of the organization, which has been able to reach far past its 40 volunteers to reach a huge Canadian audience. To date, the initiative has gained support from George Melville, the chairman and owner of Boston Pizza, Bif Naked, Dan Mangan, and even hockey legends Trevor Linden and Roberto Luongo.

“Trevor was a special one,” Loat said in an interview with the Richmond Review. “It’s an immense point of pride just because this has been my baby that I’ve grown year-over-year.”

The idea of Five Hole For Food was borne out of the 2010 Winter Olympics, after Canada’s gold medal hockey win and the infectious energy that came from the games made Loat realize that hockey could be used as a vehicle for change in Canada.

“We’re trying to build a social movement that is really tapping into the passion that Canadians have for the sport of hockey, and using that as a vehicle for social change, not just in our hometown of Vancouver, but across Canada,” Loat said in an interview with Burnaby Now.

For the first tour in 2010, the team set out across Canada to play nine games and travel 6,000 kilometers in just nine days, raising 6,000 pounds of food. This time around, Five Hole For Food drove 9,405 kilometers, and played 54 hours of hockey.

“For me, it’s about raising more and more every year,” Loat said, according to the Richmond Review. “Even if it’s just one pound of food more, it’s considered a success . . . The more impact we can leave on the community, the more impact we can make from year to year.”