No mayor? No problem.

CP24/Chris Kitching

People carry a large rainbow flag along Yonge Street during the 2011 Pride parade Sunday, July 3, 2011.

With an estimated crowd of more than one million people, Toronto's annual Pride Week parade went off with its usual exhibition of colour, heart-pounding music and skin Sunday as people celebrated 31 years of Pride, despite Mayor Rob Ford's controversial absence.

For organizers and many participants, the record-breaking event was more than a massive celebration that takes over several city streets.

The parade was a chance to remind Toronto and the rest of the world there is still plenty of work to do to achieve equal rights for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) communities worldwide. CLICK HERE for a discussion of where we are.

Click on this post's title to watch videos of the entire Pride Parade as covered by CP24.

A glimpse into the future of school

According to a new education ministry announcement, South Korea intends to completely phase out the use of old-fashioned textbooks in schools by 2015.

Instead, all textbooks will be available in digital form, accessible via iPad or smartphone or whichever digital doodad you have on hand.

It's all part if the country's "Smart Education" plan, which will create a cloud network by which students can access their textbooks and store their homework from any online source.

Hijabs, Turbans and Spaghetti Strainers?

An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as "religious headgear".

The idea that the sieve was a requirement of his religion, Pastafarianism came into Mr Alm's noodle three years ago as a way of making a serious, if ironic, point.

A self-confessed atheist, Mr Alm says he belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a light-hearted, US-based faith whose members call themselves pastafarians.

The group's website states that "the only dogma allowed in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the rejection of dogma".

Make love to the camera, Baby

Here is a really cool video of a Rube Goldberg Machine on the theme of Photography. 
It was sent to me by a longtime friend in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, but the company that produced the video is based in Toronto. The world is getting smaller all the time!
... a quote from its creator:

To me personally, this is a BIG project. Probably the largest thus far of my photography career, and it’s not even a photo-shoot. Along with the usual workload at 2D Photography Inc., we’ve been secretly (somewhat) working on this Rube Goldberg Machine for nearly six months give or take.

Be sure to watch the behind-the-scenes/making-of video in the Related Videos, too.

“Breast Milk Baby” coming to a store near you

When I first read about this, I thought it was rather creepy, but after reading the whole story of this, I can see how much it could help people understand the importance of breast-feeing.

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In a press release yesterday, Spain-based Berjuan Toys announced their commitment to bring their Breast Milk Baby doll to the U.S. after it sold well overseas. The company has generated more than $2 million in sales since the dolls were first released in Spain four years ago.

The doll previously received a formal endorsement from the Spanish breastfeeding organization FEDALMA, as well as support from members of other international breastfeeding organizations.

Each doll comes with a “fashionable” halter-top to be worn by the child; it’s decorated with two flowers carefully positioned where the nipples would be. The doll then makes motions and suckling sounds when a sensor in its mouth comes close to sensors inside the flowers. Available in both genders and three different skin colors, the six types of Breast Milk Babies are currently on sale in Europe and available online for $89.

The right to ideas

National Film Board of Canada

In RiP: A remix manifesto, Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers.

The film discusses the changes that have taken place with major music companies suing people who download music online. It raises important questions about the ownership of ideas and whether intellectual property laws should be less propietary and more like those of Brazil.

About Brett Gaylor: Brett Gaylor is the creator of opensourcecinema.org, a video remix community which supports the production of his feature documentary RiP: A remix manifesto.

Splitscreen: A Love Story

Edinburgh International Film Festival has seen some pioneering cinema in its 65 years. This year, audiences saw another first: short films shot on a phone. Eight pocket-sized productions got a big screen premiere and one picked up the Nokia Shorts 2011 Jury prize. Congratulations to all these creative filmmakers for trying something new. 

This short film employs a very simple idea to express a beautiful story.


Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.

New camera lets you focus photos after you shoot

A camera that lets you focus after you've already taken the photo? And lets you focus anywhere within the image you want? That's got people talking and, according to its creator, is the start of "a picture revolution."


Oh yeah -- it can also transfer a regular photo to 3-D.
Lytro, a company launched Tuesday by 31-year-old entrepreneur Ren Ng, promises that camera will be released soon.
"I am thrilled to finally draw back the curtain and introduce our new light field camera company, one that will forever change how everyone takes and experiences pictures," Ng wrote on the startup's blog. "Lytro's company launch is truly the start of a picture revolution."





Go to the Lytro website to see how 'light field' pictures work.

China's latest craze: dyeing pets to look like other wild animals

They only look like pandas.

Dyeing pets has been a trend in pet pampering for quite some time. At last summer's Pets Show Taipei, there was a fierce dog-dyeing competition. Check out photos.

But dyeing your pets to look like other wild animals is a more recent development.

The trend demonstrates how quickly and dramatically attitudes toward pets — particularly dogs — have changed in many parts of Asia.

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Iran bans necklaces for men and warns them about wearing jeans

Every year before summer rolls around Iranian authorities tighten clothing restrictions. Normally the “Moral Police” crackdown on the women forcing them to wear their hijab so that it covers all of their hair, for example.  But since last year, the "Moral Police" have been targeting the men too.

Last summer, the Iranian government issued a men’s hairstyle guide.

This year, they banned necklaces for men.

In addition, Iranian state TV has taken issue with jeans as well. A YouTube video from Iranian state TV features a discussion in which jeans are said to actually come from the word "jinn" - invisible creatures who know the unknowable (AKA "Genie"). The young man in the video says wearing jeans is also supposed to have a hazardous effect on a man's testicles because it raises the temperature. This, according to Iranian state TV, renders men infertile.

I thought they said Levi when I bought them!