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Ottawa’s Ontario Provincial Police are reminding eastern Ontario residents to properly dispose of their cigarettes after a cigarette caused a small grass fire on Highway 416 on Saturday.

According to a statement on the social media site X, police officers and Ottawa firefighters responded to a small wildland fire on the highway near Roger Stevens Drive in southern end of Ottawa.

“A reminder from the OttawaOPP that even in spring time, flicking a cigarette out your car window can start a fire,” police wrote. 

Police say traffic in the area is unaffected.

Posted March 31, 2026

We wanted to let you all know that Plex Media Server will no longer receive updates for 32-bit versions of Windows. The last supported release for 32-bit systems is version 1.42.2.

Why? Due to recent changes in how we build and deploy Plex Media Server, we’re no longer able to publish new 32-bit builds. Microsoft also ended mainstream support for Windows 10 in October 2025. While Microsoft does offer an Extended Security Updates program that provides security patches through October 2026, that program only covers critical security fixes — not feature updates — and it represents the final chapter for Windows 10 support overall.

What you can do: Many systems currently running a 32-bit version of Windows actually support 64-bit operating systems. We’d encourage you to check whether your hardware supports a 64-bit version of Windows. If it does, upgrading your OS would allow you to continue receiving the latest versions of Plex Media Server, along with broader security and feature updates from Microsoft going forward.

Your existing Plex Media Server (v1.42.2) will continue to work for now, but it won’t receive new features, bug fixes, or security patches from us going forward (and it’s possible that future Plex changes could impact such old, non-updated installs).

Next Generation 9-1-1, also known as NG9-1-1, is a behind-the-scenes upgrade to the core infrastructure of Canada’s 9-1-1 network. NG9-1-1 replaces the current, aging analog infrastructure with a modern digital platform that is more reliable, secure and better able to support enhanced location and data in the future.

With this upgrade, Ottawa’s 9-1-1 network joins jurisdictions across the country in improving how emergency calls can be routed, managed, and shared between services over time. NG9-1-1 also lays the groundwork for future features, such as real-time text and multimedia, which are not available yet.

In an emergency, continue to call 9-1-1. There is no change to how residents call 9-1-1 or how calls are handled. Visit the City’s When to call 9-1-1 and what to say page for more information.

Further details about NG9-1-1 are available on the CRTC’s Next Generation 9-1-1 page(link is external).

Ottawa households will be allowed to put out six garbage items on their scheduled garbage collection day between March 30 and April 24, as a new waste collection schedule means some households will go three weeks between collection days.

The City of Ottawa has sent a letter by Canada Post to residents outlining their waste collection day may be changing.

You can find out your garbage, recycling and green bin collection date on the city’s website at https://ottawa.ca/en/3-1-1/report-or-request/garbage-recycling-and-organic-waste/garbage-and-recycling-collection-calendar.

A freezing rain warning now covers a significant portion of eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, with Environment Canada saying a “prolonged period” of freezing rain, potentially lasting up to 24 hours, could affect the region this week.

An orange warning for freezing rain has been issued, which means a high level of impact.

Between 10 and 20 millimetres of freezing rain and ice buildup is expected, according to the weather warning.

“How you can prepare: Ensure your cell phones and power banks are fully charged. Check your emergency kit: Make sure you have flashlights, fresh batteries, and a 72-hour supply of water and non-perishable food.”

So far, he’s made two brief appearances on Apple’s TikTok account. The first was on a TLDR video showcasing the Neo’s specs, while the second glimpse was captured by X user @m2macmini during a TikTok livestream called “Matcha Break with MacBook Neo.” In the video still, he’s seen working at a tiny desk with an even tinier MacBook Neo, drinking a cup of matcha. Since TikTok livestreams disappear immediately after the stream ends, we’ll have to wait until Apple runs another video featuring the little Happy Mac if we ever want to see him in action again.

Canada’s first-ever hardware hackathon for high schoolers took place Saturday at the University of Ottawa.

Nearly 100 students from across Ottawa and Montreal had 12 hours to build physical hardware projects from scratch for the first time.

The event, known as Catalyst, hosted by Redshifted, encouraged students to get off screens and work with their hands to build innovative hardware projects.

Students got to take part in engaging hardware workshops for beginners and intermediate builders.

Organizers say hardware is one of those areas where there’s almost no community for young people.

The event was free, ensuring all students get to participate.

“The hardware costs a lot, which is why we’re excited to bring this to participants for free so that anybody without a financial barrier can join and build hardware projects,” Han added.

I’m designing a Villager trading hall meant to host about 100-140 Villagers. How far would I need to locate my breeder and/or iron farm from messing with each other?

Apple Music is rolling out a new metadata system called Transparency Tags, which indicates when AI has been used in the creation of music hosted on the platform.

The system covers four categories including artwork, track, composition (lyrics), and music video. Labels and distributors can begin applying the tags immediately. Apple describes the tags as optional for now, noting that if omitted, no AI is assumed.

Apple said it defers to content providers to determine what qualifies as AI-generated, and that it treats the tags similarly to genres, credits, and other existing metadata. The company describes it as a first step toward industry-wide transparency around AI-generated music.

With Apple's tags, there isn't a visible enforcement or cross-verification process in place. The system is completely voluntary, or at least it is for now. Whether labels and distributors will actually use it remains to be seen.

Featured guests include voice actors Anne Yatco, Griffin Burns, Paul Castro Jr., Risa Mei, and music group Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da.

From the program description:

In Spring 2026, the City will offer 2,400 free trees on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration will open in two stages to prioritize planting where it is needed most, based on the City’s Tree Equity Analysis.

• March 2: Registration opens for residents in wards that contain a Priority Area for Tree Planting. This includes Wards 7, 10, 11, 14, 16, 18, 24. Use this tool to find your Ward.
• March 9: Registration opens to residents from all wards across Ottawa.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/24650125

Because nothing says "fun" quite like having to restore a RAID that just saw 140TB fail.

Western Digital this week outlined its near-term and mid-term plans to increase hard drive capacities to around 60TB and beyond with optimizations that significantly increase HDD performance for the AI and cloud era. In addition, the company outlined its longer-term vision for hard disk drives' evolution that includes a new laser technology for heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), new platters with higher areal density, and HDD assemblies with up to 14 platters. As a result, WD will be able to offer drives beyond 140 TB in the 2030s.

Western Digital plans to volume produce its inaugural commercial hard drives featuring HAMR technology next year, with capacities rising from 40TB (CMR) or 44TB (SMR) in late 2026, with production ramping in 2027. These drives will use the company's proven 11-platter platform with high-density media as well as HAMR heads with edge-emitting lasers that heat iron-platinum alloy (FePt) on top of platters to its Curie temperature — the point at which its magnetic properties change — and reducing its magnetic coercivity before writing data.