Amazon Canada and The Walrus announce 45th Annual First Novel Award shortlist of nominees

If looking for a hidden star in the literary world is something you fancy then you may be interested in today's shortlist of nominees announcement for the 45th Annual First Novel Award from Amazon Canada and The Walrus. The award was created to honour the achievements of Canadian authors and their debut novels.

This year’s shortlist of authors will each receive $6,000 and the winner will receive the grand prize of $60,000 in cash. The winner will be announced on Thursday, May 27, 2021 via virtual ceremony hosted by Jennifer Hollett, the executive director of The Walrus and will include Lawrence Hill as the special guest speaker.

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Microsoft Teams will soon automatically record meetings for you

Microsoft

In case you didn't know, it currently isn't possible to automatically record meetings on Microsoft Teams. But it looks like Microsoft is finally ready to change that. The Teams Engineering team confirmed to a user on the Microsoft Teams forum that they are working on this feature. Funny enough, the request was made even before the pandemic hit, back in September 2018). Three years later, someone from Microsoft's team finally decided to confirm that the feature is coming. 

According to 9to5Mac, this feature will be available for macOS and Windows. And it will always show at the top of the meeting that it is being recorded for safety reasons.

Bird Canada deploys 500 e-scooters in Windsor, Ontario

Photo by Colton Sturgeon on Unsplash

For residents of Windsor, Ontario, there are now 500 Bird Two e-scooters available to help you get around. According to Bird Canada, the deployment of the e-scooters is part of a one-year shared pilot approved by the City of Windsor. These e-scooters will feature Windsor-specific branding.

A local team from the company will manage the roll-out and educate users on e-scooter safety protocols. These rentable scooters will be placed throughout the area bounded by the Riverfront pathway, Prince, Tecumseh, and Drouillard Road. 

Source: CTV News

Clubhouse starts external testing of Android app

Clubhouse might no longer be an iOS exclusive soon (Erin Kwon on Unsplash)

As its competition catches up with the app, Clubhouse knows it has to bring its Android app to the market. During its weekly Townhall event, the company announced that it has begun beta-testing the Android version with a "handful of non-employees." The voice chat app referred to this test as a "rough beta version" being rolled out to "friendly testers." So, that means the general public doesn't get access to the app just yet. The plan is to release it in the "coming weeks."

Clubhouse also announced it would introduce a bell icon for events, so users can get notified about events they've RSVP'd to. It's one step for the company to re-engage users who haven't been using the app as much as they were in the past. And creators on the platform can also advertise their events this way.

Source: TechCrunch