Rick Sturch

Grieving the death of a loved one is often a painful and emotional process. When the death is tragic and unexpected, aspects of that process can become even more complicated.

If you don't have a signed, up-to-date will, you may be leaving a difficult legal situation behind for your loved ones to clean up.

This article outlines that journey for Greg Howson's family. Greg died tragically at the age of 57 and his family had to navigate settling his estate with inadequate and outdated documentation.

Miriam Blond, a Family Navigator at Sunnybrook Hospital tells us how fundraising helps families struggling with mental health.
As many as 1.2 million young people in Canada struggle with a mental health issue, yet only 20 percent of those will get the specialized treatment they need. Why is that?
“I think sometimes isolation, sometimes stigma can be part of it, and I think it can be because it's a complicated system," explains Miriam Blond, a Family Navigator at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Cen...

In the digital age, consumers are very used to getting apps and online content for free.

I was listening to a free Joe Rogan Podcast on YouTube recently (irony intended). He was interviewing Sam Harris, who likewise has a very popular podcast. They were discussing their respective business models: ad-based versus subscription-based.

What would happen if social media platforms used a subscription-based model?

Recently it was revealed that Google services track your location, even if you’ve explicitly told them not to. This seems troubling to me.

In order to start taking control of your online privacy, there are easy steps you can take. This especially includes moving your search behaviour away from Google. DuckDuckGo is a great alternative.

Friday's sell off in U.S. equities was one of the largest in recent history, with a 2.1% drop - a drop this large not seen since June of 2016.
A correction could be expected after such incredibly strong growth, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 26% over the last 12 months. Whether or not this is a blip in a continuing bull market is unclear; what is clear is that the Canadian market is lagging.
Over the last 12 months, the TSX Composite Index is almost exactly even (down 0.25...

If you're planning on taking your phone and computer with you on vacation this summer (or any season for that matter), this article is for you.
Have you ever tethered your computer to your mobile hotspot, browsed a few data-light websites (such as news sites for example), then all of a sudden you've used a gigabyte of data?
The reason this sometimes happens is that background apps and updaters can run while you think you're being careful not to consume too much data. Thankfully, there are som...

There have been a lot of major data breaches recently. Facebook is the most recent one in the news, and for good reason.
"I am really sorry that happened," said Mark Zuckerberg, referring to the Cambridge Analytica data mining scandal. I can’t help but wonder if we would have received this apology if a whistleblower hadn’t stepped forward and brought the situation into the public eye.
Since this story came to light, there have been newspaper articles detailing how you can download all your Fa...

In 1977, two spacecrafts were blasted into space that would explore the outer reaches of our solar system. Remarkably, forty years later, they are still operational.
These spacecrafts, named Voyager I & II, are the culmination of centuries of human innovation. Without mathematics, jet propulsion, an understanding of gravity and general relativity, electromagnetism, electronics, and a whole host of other critical concepts, this mission would be impossible.
One of the earliest photos the Voyage...

I wasn't even aware this device existed, and not only does it exist but it works really well.
Recently I had the chance to test a Muse Headband out, and I thought it was very cool. Let me first explain how it works.
After powering the device on, you put it on your head. It connects via bluetooth to your phone, controlled by a free app made by the manufacturer. You then connect a pair of headphones to your phone and put them on.
The app will first check to make sure the electroencephalogram (I...

I recently read an interesting article in the February 2018 Report on Business magazine titled "Driverless follies". It explores the implications of self-driving cars - specifically, some of the ways it will affect traffic.
If all the vehicles on the road are self driving, traffic lights will disappear. Instead, intersections will be orchestrated using wifi. Pedestrians will become "hyper-aggressive" once they realize that these cars will do almost anything to avoid hitting them.
These are in...

Daylight savings ends this weekend, which ushers in a new phase of the year: early darkness.
While you may get a little bit of sunlight on your commute in to work, you will be leaving in the dark if you work typical 9-5 hours. Even though we don't live farther north, where it is always dark at this time of the year, it can kind of feel like it sometimes.
I read an interesting article that suggests we should think about abolishing daylight savings altogether.
Originally, it was started in an a...

Is a cashless society a good thing?
Certainly, it is convenient. If you only need to worry about carrying around a credit or debit card, you will never be without purchasing power. Cards are lightweight and easy to carry around.
According to the BBC, only 1% of the value of transactions in Sweden were cash last year. That compares to about 7% in the US and UK, which is a fairly significant difference.
I see three potential drawbacks of doing away with cash. They are:
1) It can increase the co...