Mayor John Tory will pitch Toronto to L.A. film studios

Mayor is scheduled to meet with executives from 11 studios on three-day trip to sell them on filming in Toronto.

Need help in removing this door knob

Hi!



I'm trying to remove this commercial schlage door lock/knob however once I took off the cover plate on the inside, I'm not able to remove the door knob on the other side. Any ideas on how to remove this?

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Help: Nest Installation/2 wires humidifier

Hi,



I just purchased a Nest 3rd Generation, now, the diagram for the thermostat for my heating system is easy, but I have a 2 wires humidifier with a orange and I guess brown wire (not completely sure of the color on this one).

Nest does not provide any info on that I pay a professional installation will bring the "final price" of this thermostat out of my reach.



I need help, please, so I can do the installation by myself.



Thank you

Water pipe heat cable for pex

I had a frozen pipe which is used for heating. Pipe was routed outside and goes up to 2nd floor. Froze pipe was copper and that section was switched with a PEX pipe. I wanted to know if i can use the heating cable with copper and PEX mix.



I have two shark bites on two ends with copper on one side and pex in the middle.

City, outside workers reach tentative contract deal; inside workers extend their deadline

Announcement comes hours after midnight deadline for strike or lockout had passed. Inside workers say their talks will continue on Saturday.

City, outside workers reach tentative contract deal

Announcement comes hours after midnight deadline for strike or lockout had passed.

Generator/invertor and bonded neutral

Hello



I am planning a backup system to power my ?boiler? during a power outage. I?ve done a lot research. The wiring is figured out and I have the load requirements of the boiler. I am trying to install the most versatile system. I have yet to purchase a generator or inverter, and the transfer switch. The only issue I have left deals with the bonded/floating neutral. I would like to be able to use a generator [b]or[\b] inverter. Generators may or may not have their own bonded neutral, depending on model. Inverters may or may not have their own bonded neutral, depending on model. (It seems most inverters have a bonded neutral, and is complicated if a GFCI is used).) Some generators can be configured either way, or a ?bonding plug? assembled by connecting the ground to the neutral and plugging it into the outlet on the generator. I plan on using a pure sign inverter as the boiler does have a circuit board and processor (and pure sign inverters seem more versatile, better made, output 120 VAC on the hot rather than possibly 120 split between hot and neutral). The house load center is bonded neutral. I will be using a single circuit transfer switch. Per code there can be only one bonded neutral in a separately derived system. If the transfer switch only switches the hot, the generator/inverter side of the transfer switch cannot be bonded. If the transfer switch switches both the hot and neutral, the generator/inverter side of the transfer switch must be bonded. I plan on using a short extension cord to connect the generator/inverter to the transfer switch (or power inlet box). Backfeeding will not be considered.



The transfer switch is the issue. Switches such as the EZ Generator Switch can purchased either way - switched or non-switched neutral. I believe the switched version could be quickly rewired so the neutral bypasses the switch, thus allowing for a single bonded neutral if a floating neutral generator/inverter is used.



Thoughts? I am missing something? Again, my goal is to create the most versatile system that is independent of the type of generator or inverter.



I know the bonded neutral and generators and inverters issue is not new. If this has been answered before, please point me to the correct thread.

City of Toronto and workers deadlocked as strike deadline looms

Thousands of City of Toronto workers could legally go on strike after midnight.

Small Nail/Staple Guns Electric VS Air

I want to get a couple of small Nail/Staple guns.



First project to be used on:

Replacing plyboard around eves of my shop. My existing plyboard is getting really bad around the eves of the shop so I want to remove it & replace it with 1/4 plyboard. So, I need a small nail/brad gun that will shoot 1" or so nails/brads, whatever as well as staples. Now, I say that cause I have a little electric nailer/stapler thing that shoots both but I don't really like it. It doesn't seem to be strong enough for its purpose. So, that's what I am kinda looking to replace. To be honest, I dont know that I would use a stapler that much so a 1" nail/brad gun would be ok.



I also do little piddling things like bird houses etc with 1/2" plyboard. So, I kinda need something that will do these little small projects.



I have an air compressor so that's not an issue & of course we even have electricity around here. I'll be honest in that I probably wont use this thing a lot. Especially on a weekly basis, sometimes on a monthly basis. So, it could be 3 or 4 months between uses.



With that info, would you suggest an electric over air? I think I would prefer an air gun but, I am not opposed to getting an electric, but I've heard, you need to keep an air gun oiled or maintained even when not in use for periods of time, otherwise the seals etc will dry out & you'll have to have them rebuilt or something.... whatever.



I buy most of my hardware & project supply's at Home Depot.... but, I sometimes check Lowes too. Name brands? Other tips?



So....... Yes? No? Maybe? Air? Electric? What to you say?

Bathtub Tiling

Hi, I have a couple general questions about tiling the wall around my bathtub. The bathroom remodel sticky suggested not posting there, so I'm taking a guess at where this post belongs...



I have experience remodeling all the rooms in my home, but I've never installed a new bathtub. Currently, the walls around the tub are fiberglass. We want to take this out along with the tub and replace with tile to go with the new tub. I will be having help with this but need to generally lead the project. So a couple questions I had...



Do I need to waterproof the cement backer board before putting up the mortar? I've seen conflicting answers. If so, what product do you recommend?



Do you just choose from the same tile that you would use on a floor?



Is there a general distance you need to have between the top of the tile and the ceiling?



Are there alternatives to using the tub drain removal tool? I'm willing to save a few bucks here and there if it doesn't hurt the end product.



Any other suggestions are welcome also. Thanks!

Brampton asks provincial Ombudsman to probe downtown deal

Request from council may be stymied by ongoing legal issues.

Residencial hvac heating problem (water based)

I had a new ac built to order that replaced my old one 3 years ago. Right after warranty was off (2 years in) a/c started to act wierd. During winters from time to time, it starts to blow cold air and with no reason goes back to normal. During summer, all is ok though. This year again same thing happened. I manually overrided actuator to open position few times. After sometime spring inside it broke, so i bought new unit (erie ag13b020) and replaced whole head, hoping that problem will disappear. After 24h however, problem came back. During the day a/c blows hot air, stops automatically and starts right back working all good, but at night though set unchanged to 80 degrees, will start blowing cold air continiously. Only way to get hot air, is again manually opening water walve, which again will make it work great during the day, but fails at night though untouched. What seems to be the problem? Also what's that part on the pripe near erie looking like oversize "watch" battery seen on last picture? Can it be responsible for the on and off cold air?







http://imageshack.com/a/img923/126/P7hQcl.jpg







http://imageshack.com/a/img921/6072/ij1gSd.jpg







http://imageshack.com/a/img922/4708/YW1lRQ.jpg

11 Facebook Tips, Tricks and Facts You Probably Don't Already Know

Over 1.5 billion people regularly use Facebook.

And as the social network has grown, the rate at which Facebook shares news, and releases new features and products has accelerated.

It can be a little hard to keep up sometimes.

With this in mind, I'd love to share 11 Facebook tips, tricks, and facts with you.

This post will give you plenty of great stuff to help you get the most out of and better understand Facebook. From why you get shown certain ads and which types of posts get the most engagement, to how closely connected you everyone else on the planet and much, much more.

Let's go!

1. How to edit your Facebook ad preferences

Have you ever seen a random ad appear in your timeline and wondered why Facebook is showing it to you?

It probably has something to do with your Advert Preferences - a selection of topics Facebook believes you're interested in based on your profile, Pages you like or engage with, ads you click on and apps and websites you use.

It's super interesting to understand more about what topics Facebook believes you're interested in and within your Facebook settings, you can view and even edit these preferences.

To take a peek at your preferences, click on Settings in the top right corner of Facebook:

Then select Adverts, and click 'Edit' next to 'Ads based on my preferences':

You'll then see the below screen, click 'Visit Ad Preferences' to view and edit your preferences:

Now, you'll be taken to the page where you can view and edit all of your ad preferences:

It's fascinating to dive into each category and check out the topics listed within your preferences. If you'd like to remove any of your preferences, and not receive ads targetted to that topic, you can do so by hovering over and clicking the 'x' button:

(h/t to Katie Notopoulos over at Buzzfeed for this tip)

2. Images posted via Instagram receive more engagement than native Facebook image posts

A Buzzsumo study of over 1 billion Facebook posts from 3 million brand pages found that images posted to Facebook via Instagram receive more engagement than natively published images:

This is particularly interesting, as often, cross posting from one platform to another results in less engagement (native Facebook video vs. embedding a YouTube video on Facebook, for example).

However, with Instagram being owned by Facebook, there could be some benefits for Facebook by making posts from Instagram more visible in the timeline.

Have you tried posting images to Facebook via Instagram? I'd love to hear if you noticed any difference in engagement in the comments below.

3. The six degrees of separation are shrinking

Six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone in the world is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person. However, thanks to social media, it appears the six degrees are now shrinking.

According to a Facebook study, the six degrees of separation has now become the three-and-a-half degrees of separation, as Facebook explain on their research blog:

Each person in the world (at least among the 1.59 billion people active on Facebook) is connected to every other person by an average of three and a half other people.

The majority of the people on Facebook have averages between 2.9 and 4.2 degrees of separation as the below graph shows:

This highlights how social media, and Facebook, in particular, is making us more connected. You can find out more about this and find your degrees of separation over at the Facebook research blog.

Below are my degrees of separation and those of a few Facebook employees:

4. How to download all of your Facebook information

Almost everyone who uses Facebook has lots of information, content and memories stored within the social network.

If you'd like a backup of all your Facebook data - including photos - you can download everything in a few simple steps:

1. Head over to your Facebook Settings page


2. Click Download a copy of your Facebook data below your General Account Settings


3. Select 'Start My Archive' to get your download going

Pro tip: The data that you download from Facebook contains a lot of sensitive information like inbox messages, photos and more. It could be a good idea to keep it all saved in a safe location.

For a full list of what's included when you download your information, check out this page on the Facebook Help Center.

5. Posts with hashtags receive less engagement than those without

Buzzsumo's study of over 1 billion Facebook posts discovered that posts on Facebook that include a hashtag receive less engagement than those without hashtags, as illustrated in the below graph:

Hashtags have become a default way to categorize content across Twitter and Instagram, but not made much impact on Facebook. Do you ever use hashtags on Facebook? I'd love to hear your experience in the comments below this post.

This also highlights the importance of sharing a different message across each social media platform. For example, here's how I might share the same post on Twitter and Facebook:

6. How to save links for later

Often, when I browse my Facebook Newsfeed, I spot something that grabs my attention but don't immediately have time to read a post or watch a video.

If you're even in this situation, Facebook has a really neat feature allowing you to save a link to come back to later. Here's a snapshot of my saved content:

If you see something in your timeline that you'd like to save for later, you can click on the drop-down menu in the top right corner and click 'Save Link.'

Here's how it looks on desktop:

And on mobile:

To find your saved posts again you can head to https://www.facebook.com/saved/ and on mobile tap 'More' from the navigation and then you should see an option for Saved:

7. Almost half of Facebook's users are mobile only

Facebook now boasts more than 1.5 billion users, more than 1 billion of which use the service daily.

What's even more interesting is that nearly half, around 46%, of Facebook's users never log in to the desktop site and use Facebook only on mobile devices.

Will we soon hit the tipping point where the majority of Facebook users are mobile-only? VentureBeat predicts that we could reach that landmark at some time in 2016.

8. How to sync your Facebook Calendar with Google Calendar

I find this one is extremely helpful. My calendar is like my personal assistant, and I use it to plan and organize both my work and social schedules.

If you use both Facebook events and Google Calendar, combining the two is amazingly useful and pretty simple. Here's how to do it:

Head over to Events on Facebook, and click on one of your 'Upcoming events.' Once you're on the event page, click on the 'Options' button and select 'Export Event' from the dropdown, as shown below:

Next you'll see the below lightbox popup. Here you'll want to copy the URL under 'Subscribe to all upcoming events on your calendar.'

Once you've copied the URL, open up Google Calendar and on the left-hand side you'll see an option called 'Other Calendars.' Click on the drop down next to 'Other Calendars' and choose "Add by URL" as shown below.

Once the lightbox opens up, insert the URL you copied from Facebook and your Facebook events will now sync with Google Calendar.

9. How to search your video library

Video has become an excellent way to reach and engage your audience on Facebook.

If your brand uploads a lot of video content to Facebook, there's a useful Video Library feature that gives you a list of all the videos you've uploaded as well as multiple ways to filter them.

To find your Facebook Page's Video Library, head over to your Page and click 'Publishing Tools.'

From the Publishing Tools page, then select the Video Library option on the left-hand side:

This is a great way to filter through all of your Facebook videos and discover your most successful content at a glance. You could consider re-sharing some of your most highly viewed content or using it as a blueprint for future video posts.

10. Facebook's audience is growing up in Western markets

Facebook was founded in 2004, and as its twelfth birthday approaches, it's not just the social network that has matured. So have its users - in Western markets, at least.

As AdWeek reports:

Millennials make up a smaller share of Facebook's users in Western markets than in developing nations. In the U.S., for instance, there are 17 percent more people over the age of 40 using the social network than their younger counterparts. Additionally, 33 percent of Facebook's audience is under age 30. By comparison, in India and Indonesia, 75 percent of its users are millennials or younger.

11. Messenger has over 800 million users (is social media becoming more private?)

2015 was a huge year for Facebook Messenger and the app now has over 800 million monthly active users.

The below graphic shares some more of Messanger's 2015 highlights:

On Facebook's Newsroom, David Marcus, VP of Messaging Products at Facebook explains that the Messenger team's mission is to "make Messenger the best place to communicate with all the people and businesses in the world.

As Messenger, and more private social media and communication platforms boom, it feels like social media is becoming a little less about sharing our lives publicly, and more about connecting on a personal level with the people closest to us.

In their Digital in 2016 report, We Are Social note that they're seeing an increased number of 'private' accounts on Instagram too, again backing up the feeling that social media is heading in a more private direction.

As marketers, this could also lead to a shift in the way we approach social media. Moving more towards value-led marketing that helps enhance customer experience and generate more favorable mentions and recommendations between individuals.

To succeed in this more personal social media environment, we need to get better at listening to individuals. Not just using social media as a way to share and promote marketing messages and campaigns.

Over to you

Thanks for reading! I hope you found some of these tips, tricks and facts useful.

Was there anything, in particular, you picked up from this post? Any Facebook tips and tricks you'd like to share? I'd love to hear from you and join the conversation in the comments.

The post 11 Facebook Tips, Tricks and Facts You Probably Don't Already Know appeared first on Social.

Universal or DIY Washer/Dryer Stacking Kit

Hello.



I'm wondering if anyone knows of a universal type washer/dryer stacking kit. I purchased a Kenmore set which comes with an LG stacking kit; however, it does not fit and Sears is not help.



I've seen some kits for European models that appear to be a plastic seat for the top of the washer and then a belt that wraps around both units.



If I end up having to improvise a way to stack these units I'm thinking I'll just get some rubber pads for the dryer feet on top of the washer, but what kind of belt/strap would I use to secure the units together?



Thanks.

Gord Perks takes on his toughest challenge yet -- Toronto's budget

When the budget under Mayor John Tory goes for final approval at council, its chief critic will be the Parkdale-High Park councillor.

Just had one of those "hmmm" moments...

Just finished doing my daughter's tax return (yeah, I still spoil her) and needed her routing number and account number for the direct deposit on the refund. Dropped her an email. About 15 minutes later she called me to give me the numbers as she did not want to send them via email. I'm thinking she should be running for President as she at least knows the meaning of the term comsec.

Most of Toronto's newest police don't live in Toronto

The issue of where police officers live -- and whether it matters -- is a hot topic south of the border.

Covered up junction box above ceiling mirror

The previous property owner had put in this elaborate mirrored ceiling with wood framed in sections.



Only problem is, there is a junction box above this ceiling that's covered up.







I would like to access this junction box somehow.



This is the junction box from above in the attic. As you can see there are several EMT conduits connected to it and there is no easy way I can turn it around and make it accessible from the attic side.







Any ideas?



Do I measure carefully and cut the mirrored ceiling from below then put in an ugly box cover? Assuming I don't end up cracking the mirror and once I do that there is no avoiding taking the whole thing down. :help:



Or is there a way I can do something in the attic? :confused:

Toronto unveils contingency plan in case of strike

The city has released its contingency plan for service delivery in the event of a labour disruption

On transit, big change coming down the track -- at last: James

It won't be quick in coming, but the broader, busier, more integrated transit system we need is being envisioned at city hall right now, writes Royson James. But it has to be fought for.

Program 5808w3 loop 3 as ZT12

I have a Vista 20p. I'm trying to get a 5808w3 smoke loop 3 (low temp) to program as zone type 12. I can't get it to work correctly. I can program it as zone type 8 and it works but I want it in as ZT 12.



Does anyone know if this can be done?



Thanks.

Freezing pipes

Hey all you DIY masters- Maybe you all can help out with this one.



Literally every time the temperature seriously drops, I end up with the water line coming into my house freezing. At least, this is where I think its freezing. Pictures may help more- I'll add them for reference.



The pipes seem to be freezing underneath my front door entrance. It is the raised area behind the brick wall out front. My laundry room does get very cold- this year I left the heater vents wide open in there to add heat to prevent the freeze. However, last night, the filter on my furnace got too clogged and shut down my heat, and it took almost no time for the pipes to freeze. I presently have a space heater and heating pad in the laundry room to try to thaw the line, but its been hours and I still have nothing. All the pipes I can reach with my hand in the wall feel pretty warm, so it must be frozen solid elsewhere.



I have no water flowing anywhere with the exception of my washing machine, which seems to have a separate supply. Does anyone have any tips for preventing this, or solving my problem right now? I would be willing to tear into the wall in the laundry room, though I imagine cutting through studs to access the cavity beneath my walkway would be structurally bad. Any advice or ideas? Thanks guys!

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