READER'S DIGEST (Oktober 2021)

a hit series. In her new novel, a tangle out of Saigon and into the U.S., where
of libidinous Irish 20-somethings have most of them were adopted by Ameri-
a lot of sex and complicated feelings. can and Canadian families. This new
Funny email exchanges between Alice, novel by Montreal’s Thúy is spare and
a writer struggling with mental illness, achingly personal, following two
and Eileen, a broke literary assistant, orphaned kids as they navigate the ter-
form the book’s emotional core. $32. rors of the war-torn city and wind up
lost in the Vietnamese diaspora. $28.
MATRIX
by Lauren Groff THE STRANGERS
In medieval France, a young woman, by Katharena Vermette
banished from the court of Eleanor of In Vermette’s new saga, a Métis family
Aquitaine for her unladylike moxie, gets wrenched apart by racism, poverty
joins a derelict, plague-ridden convent and circumstance. The mother strug-
and transforms it into a thriving com- gles with addiction, one of her daugh-
munity of self-actualized nuns. Think ters is shuttled around foster care and
of it as a 12th-century Sister Act, if Sis- the other is set to give birth in a youth-
ter Act were pulsing with female rage detention centre. The object of their
and religious ecstasy. $37. harrowing quest: reunification. $30.

HARLEM SHUFFLE “INDIAN” IN THE CABINET: SPEAKING
by Colson Whitehead TRUTH TO POWER
Whitehead’s latest is a rollicking tale of by Jody Wilson-Raybould
con men and capers. It’s about a furni- In 2019, Wilson-Raybould shattered
ture salesman in 1960s Harlem whose the government’s smiley facade when
ambitions lead him into a life of corrup- she accused Prime Minister Justin
tion as he tumbles into a plot to rob an Trudeau and his advisors of interfering
upscale hotel. The book sparkles with in the SNC-Lavalin prosecution; she’s
vibrant detail and characters, dropping since served as an Independent, and
readers into a world humming with cul- recently announced a retirement from
ture and music, hustle and grift. $36. politics. She writes about her experi-
ence as an Indigenous minister and
EM her hopes for a more inclusive political
by Kim Thúy future in Canada, though most readers
In the spring of 1975, the massive will turn straight to the part where she
humanitarian effort known as Opera- dishes out her unfiltered version of the
tion Babylift evacuated more than 3,300 SNC-Lavalin brouhaha and the ensu-
children—some orphans, some not— ing political scandal. $35.

rd.ca 99

reader’s digest

FRIGHT NIGHT My wife: Pick a Hallow-
een movie to watch.
Me: Harry Potter.
My wife: That’s not a
Halloween movie.
Me: Then why does it
have witches, spells and
flying broomsticks?
My wife: Pick another
movie.
Me: Fine. The sequel to
Harry Potter.

— @NEWDADNOTES

“If you dress in a costume that they can’t figure out, Show off to people who
they feel guilty and give you more candy.” always keep a neat
house by not cleaning
Halloween is the only leggings and a sweat- the cobwebs in your SUSAN CAMILLERI KONAR
day of the year when shirt and saying they’re home and being ready
it’s OK to ask, “What working from home. for Halloween before
are you?” they are.
— @WENDY_B
— MIKE BIRBIGLIA, — @HOMEWITHPEANUT
Party Pooper
comedian For Halloween this year, Halloween is my favour-
I’m going as the parents ite holiday because
Everyday Costume from Dirty Dancing, you can trespass on a
The great thing about since I’ll already be stranger’s property and
the pandemic is your yelling at everyone for make a demand with-
kid can dress up as any having fun. out getting in trouble.
profession for Hallow-
een by throwing on — @NICKBOSSROSS — @MCNASTY

Send us your original
jokes! You could earn
$50 and be featured
in the magazine. See
page 7 or rd.ca/joke
for details.

100 october 2021

WORD POWER 10. cryptocurrency—
A: digital money not
Computer language is more than zeroes regulated by a central
and ones. Test your tech savvy with these authority. B: web slang
for uranium. C: metric for
Internet-related words. perceived value of a tech
start-up.

BY Linda Besner 11. Boolean—A: visible
on the dark web. B: sur-
1. meme—A: lip-synched 5. chatbot—A: simulated passing one billion users.
video. B: malicious com- human interlocutor. C: data type with only
mentator. C: image or B: language-learning app. “true” or “false” values.
behaviour that spreads C: animatronic feline.
through imitation. 12. netiquette—
6. firewall—A: network A: polite behaviour
2. pharming—A: redi- security system. B: viral online. B: higher price
recting traffic to a fraudu- challenge involving jump- tag on online orders.
lent website. B: harness- ing a motorcycle over a C: optimal search term.
ing the computer power flaming board. C: spicy
of multiple users. Silicon Valley latte. 13. captcha—A: key-
C: growing one’s social board duster. B: test used
media presence. 7. node—A: junk mail. to differentiate between
B: sponsored content. humans and computers.
3. gigaflop—A: tech fail. C: point of connection in C: cyberattack.
B: device with limited a network.
storage capacity. 14. cookie—A: novice
C: speed of one billion 8. selfie—A: digital over- Internet user. B: metadata
floating-point operations sharer. B: photographic of an altered financial
per second. self-portrait. C: phone- record. C: data packet
sized purse. used to identify a user.
4. dox—A: publicly
shame. B: publish some- 9. mainframe— 15. deepfake—A: online
one’s private information A: large, powerful com- persona used as a
without their consent. puter. B: older app user. romantic lure. B: corrupt
C: give a negative review. C: body of an email. line of code. C: manipula-
tion creating a false
image or recording.

rd.ca 101

reader’s digest

WORD POWER hacker broke through email may strike some as
ANSWERS the firewall. poor netiquette.

1. meme—C: image or 7. node—C: point of con- 13. captcha—B: test
behaviour that spreads nection in a network; as, used to differentiate
through imitation; as, Jo’s printer was one node between humans and
Grumpy Cat, a pet with on her home network. computers; as, Fatima
an irritated expression, is had to identify four pic-
a famous Internet meme. 8. selfie—B: photo- tures of traffic lights in
graphic self-portrait; as, the captcha.
2. pharming—A: redi- Some 80 per cent of Lon-
recting traffic to a fraudu- doners edit their selfies. 14. cookie—C: data
lent website; as, Dennis’s packet used to identify a
credit card information 9. mainframe— user; as, Companies use
was stolen when he fell A: large, powerful com- cookies to show targeted
victim to pharming. puter; as, The mainframe ads to users.
Harvard Mark I weighed
3. gigaflop—C: speed of nearly five tonnes. 15. deepfake—
one billion floating-point C: manipulation creating
operations per second; 10. cryptocurrency— a false image or record-
as, An early super- A: digital money not ing; as, The deepfake that
computer, Cray 2, could regulated by a central places Elon Musk’s face
perform 1.9 gigaflops. authority; as, The Victoria on Charlie Sheen’s body
HarbourCats baseball is eerily convincing.
4. dox—B: publish some- team is the first sports
one’s private information franchise in Canada to CROSSWORD
without their consent; as, accept cryptocurrency as ANSWERS
Bullies use doxing to payment for tickets.
intimidate their targets. FROM PAGE 104
11. Boolean—C: data
5. chatbot—A: simulated type with only “true” or GUM MA E J I F F
human interlocutor; as, “false” values; as, Using P ROV E RB UNDO
Siri, the chatbot that acts Boolean operators like A L B E R T A MA R X
as a digital assistant, was “NOT” and “OR” can
released in 2010. make Google results BR I Y I P
more relevant. L L O Y DM I N S T E R
6. firewall—A: network YE S I ANS ORE
security system; as, The 12. netiquette— S A S K A T CH EWA N
A: polite behaviour online;
as, Failing to answer an ANT EVA
QU I Z OB L I GED
UMNO CO L L E G E
I A G O K O S S OW

102 october 2021

TRIVIA 11. When Israel’s space-
craft Beresheet crash-
BY Beth Shillibeer landed on the moon in
2019, what was it carry-
1. What television 6. What type of Hallow- ing that may have since
role did Katie Couric, een costume did Disney become the first lunar
Ken Jennings and Bill launch in 2020 for dis- life form?
Whitaker have in common abled children?
this year? 12. Why is Russia’s
7. Nova Scotia is the first October Revolution of
2. What Oktoberfest legislative body in Can- 1917 commemorated
commodity sold out ada to implement what in November?
despite the cancellation legal approach to organ
of the 2020 Munich donation upon death? 13. What passengers
celebrations? took the very first hot air
8. The 2020 Nobel Peace balloon ride in 1783?
3. Canada’s University of Prize was awarded to
Victoria offers a course which organization 14. Vampire squids, gob-
on which superhero cre- whose mascot is a dog lin sharks and fangtooth
ated by Bob Kane and named Foxtrot? fish are all members of
Bill Finger? what specific ecosystem?
9. Who is the only U.S.
4. Which Australian president to have been 15. Facing an excess of
prime minister was also a awarded a Pulitzer Prize? oranges, what did the city
Rhodes Scholar and one- of Seville recently do with
time holder of a world 10. In 2020, sailor Bert its fruit waste?
record for drinking beer? ter Hart became the first
person from North Amer-
5. Saffron can be more ica to sail around the
expensive than gold by world alone using what
weight. True or false? method of navigation?

ISTOCK.COM/DENIRA777 Answers: 1. Jeopardy guest host. 2. Official beer stein. 3. Batman. 4. Bob Hawke. 5. True.
6. Wheelchair adaptive costumes. 7. Presumed consent. 8. World Food Programme. 9. John F.
Kennedy in 1957, for Profiles in Courage. 10. Celestial navigation (charts and sextant). 11. Tardigrades
(water bears). 12. Russia used the Julian calendar in 1917 but now uses the Gregorian calendar.
13. A sheep, a duck and a rooster. 14. Deep sea environments. 15. Create electricity.

rd.ca 103

reader’s digest

CROSSWORD

Border City 42 Shakespearean villain
43 Ring results, for short
BY Derek Bowman 44 Spread seeds

1 23 456 7 8 9 10 DOWN
1 Univ. transcript number
11 12 13 2 Internet address, briefly
3 Mafia don
14 15 4 The fourth from the
Dominion Land Survey
16 17 18 traverses 19-Across
5 Gallery display
19 20 21 22 23 24 6 Web-auction co.
7 Captures, in checkers
25 26 27 8 Celebrity chef Garten
9 Prez on the U.S. dime
28 29 30
10 Animal creating trouble
31 32 at the henhouse

33 34 35 36 37 38 39 12 More than somewhat
18 How pistachios are
40 41
often sold
42 43 44 19 Fleur-de-___
20 ___ & Perrins
ACROSS 25 “Absolutely!” 21 Tool similar to a pickaxe
1 Juicy Fruit, for one 26 Millar and Hanomansing 22 Large hauls
4 Actor West 27 Mine yield 23 Historic time
7 Short time, informally 28 Side of 19-Across 24 Kylo ___ of Star Wars
31 Hill dweller 29 Buzzer in jug bands
11 Pithy saying 32 Longoria of Frontera 30 Bad to the bone
13 Reverse an action 33 Trivia contest, perhaps 33 Who, in Chicoutimi
14 Side of 19-Across 36 “Much ___” (“Thanks!”) 34 Chambers actor Thurman
15 Groucho or Karl 40 “Yeah, not gonna 35 Bank that’s now
16 Mallory’s sister on Grace
happen” Tangerine
and Frankie 41 Lakeland, in Vermilion 37 Ghostly greeting
17 Sound from a pound 38 It can be bruised
19 Border city and 19-Across 39 Beads seen in the

morning

For answers, turn to PAGE 102

104 october 2021