Monty Python’s absurdist tribute to Canadian tree fellers – the famed Lumberjack Song – is renowned across the world as a comedic classic.

Even real lumberjacks like to sing the lyrics: “I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay. I sleep all night. And I work all day.”

Canadian child-protection advocates are urging the administrators of the network that underpins much of the dark web to block access to millions of child-abuse images and the thousands of websites that post them.

They are warning that pedophile material is proliferating on the anonymous web, including tips on how to abuse minors and evade the police, which is jeopardizing the safety of huge numbers of children worldwide.

During the ice storm of 1998, power lines and transmission towers in Quebec and Ontario collapsed under layers of ice, taking out communications and leaving millions of people stranded without electricity and unable to communicate their plight.

In many cities, radio hams – amateur radio operators often communicating on battery-powered sets from their basements – stepped up to keep channels open to the emergency services and to help people connect to loved ones and stay updated on evolving disaster plans.