Attaboy Media

Beautiful data visualization of factoids about the Beatles (via Subtraction)

Eirik Boie Myrhaug is quoted as saying that Indian magic might be behind Norway’s Olympic setbacks. He suggests some B.C. chiefs might have cast an evil spell on the Norwegian athletes.

No, this is not an article from the Onion.

The Globe and Mail’s architecture critic, Lisa Rochon, discusses efforts to transform Surrey, BC from a suburb to a city. This is the way I hope all suburbs go.

At the Saskatchewan pavilion, a friendly fellow named Trent—wearing a Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey—spotted my press badge and insisted on giving me a full-blown Saskatchewan sales pitch. “What do you know about our province?” he asked hopefully. The look I gave him in response was, I’m pretty certain, the blankest look that’s ever appeared on my face.

I’ve really been enjoying Slate’s coverage of the Winter Olympics. They mix just the right amount of humour and admiration.

Yep. Me too.

You know those portable card reader devices that some restaurants and pizza delivery guys have? Well, you probably won’t see them for too much longer.

I enjoyed Kat Neville’s piece on how to escape “cookie cutter” syndrome in web design.

Nice to see Aperture finally receiving some love. Pity it’s a $100 upgrade. The list of new features is certainly long, but at first glance, no one feature seems to merit such a high upgrade cost.

Canadians will be amused by the image that briefly graced the homepage of The Pirate Bay.

And if anyone can ever be expected to ask the oil sands to do their fair share, it’s an Albertan Conservative prime minister with an Albertan environment minister.

Paul Wells notes that Environment Minister Jim Prentice appears to be warning the oil industry that the federal government will actually, maybe, someday attempt to reign in the environmental impact of oil sands development in Alberta. But at the same time, he admits that the government will slavishly follow the U.S. lead when it comes to regulation, whether it be a cap-and-trade program or otherwise. Which is great if the U.S. takes meaningful action and terrible if, say, the U.S. Congress impedes any action whatsoever (as it may well do).

Some surreality for a Friday afternoon.

My personal favourites (and I quote):

• Water balloon launchers
• Flags of non-participating countries
• Air horns, trumpets and lasers

Also banned: food, drinks and inter-continentinal ballistic missiles.

Nice. Via @stevenf

Toronto Transit finally makes it into the 21st century. Only a decade late! Oh, and it’s still “beta”.