Money’s too tight to mention at Bunz

The future is struggling to stay free

Sep 12, 2019

Bunz lays off 15 people, reduces merchants that can accept BTZ. #CDNtech

betakit.comBunz lays off 15 people, reduces merchants that can accept BTZ | BetaKitBunz has laid off 15 members of its team and removed the ability for some merchants to accept BTZ, the company’s digital currency.

The barter group that attracted major investment funding abruptly reduced the list of merchants accepting its BTZ digital currency to only those serving coffee and food. Bunz, which started in Toronto as Facebook users trading without cash, also cut back on its staff, which was hired as part of the goal of it gradually becoming a global service.

Welcome to the federal election

Tonda MacCharles @TondaMacC

Seriously. The Liberal bus just crashed into the Liberal plane wing.

None of the handicapping about whether Justin Trudeau can win this one could compare to images of his media bus actually crashing into the left wing of his media plane.

“The bizarre backstory behind the great Green defection that wasn’t for NDP in New Brunswick.” National Post explains that it was about a mother and her son. Meanwhile, the NDP has now lost a Quebec candidate accused of domestic abuse, which he denies.

The new movie maker is you

While there are evidently still TIFF parties worth reporting on, the culture has shifted toward staged acts of branded randomness:

tracyrcat @TracyRutter

So I step into Union Station in Toronto on the way to the airport and Maggie Gyllenhaal is reciting from some play with a bunch of media there. Strange but cool to see.

Tuxedo Royale tells groomsmen to go elsewhere. The formalwear chain claims “financial restructuring” is behind its closure of stores across Ontario. And with that comes the stories from imminent wedding parties who can’t get refunds on rental deposits.

Postmedia’s op-ed aftermath

Following the publication of an opinion piece about the harms of ethnic diversity, the Vancouver newspapers hope to make amends through changes to their editorial pages:

The Tyee @TheTyee

A tense, surreal meeting and an address that lacked what many in the room were hungry to hear. #cdnmedia

thetyee.caInside the Vancouver Sun after Anti-Immigrant Op-ed Debacle | The TyeeMonday, a surreal scene in the newsroom. Today, some changes announced.

The call that came to Bianca Andreescu’s cellphone. After complaining that she never received congratulations from Drake, the tennis champ informed a Toronto press conference that he sent her a text—and she doesn’t know how to reply to it.

Finally, true love will find you in the end

Daniel Johnston, the eccentric Austin singer-songwriter who died at age 58, briefly performed in Toronto in 2001 as part of Canadian Music Week. He returned to the city three more times—and his 2007 trip included an appearance on the newish MTV Canada:

Twelve Thirty Six