Angry Robot

GO and Smarttrack are one and the same service, says Metrolinx

Flipping out

Love this bit, about the part of The Inning when they were reviewing the Russell Martin throw:

The TV broadcast ceased to resemble a baseball game.  There were just long shots of the crowd, and stadium security, and moms clutching young children.  It was surreal.  It felt like you were watching the feed of a game between innings, when the commercials are running and the cameras are all being repositioned. The announcers were just sort of mumbling to themselves. It had a nightmare dreamscape quality that was very unsettling.

I really haven’t posted any of my spots in some time. Here’s a recent one.

Inside the fight of Stephen Harper's life

Some great writing in this Paul Wells joint – esp calling Rob Ford “300 lb. of entropy in a track suit.”

Bautista delivers a bat flip for the ages, and the Blue Jays move on to ALCS

Good writeup

Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.

It’s easy to dismiss pieces like this as anti-tech, head-in-the-sand Luddism. But this one argues convincingly that smartphones are bad for empathy. Also has this which I endorse – “Think of unitasking as the next big thing. In every domain of life, it will increase performance and decrease stress.”

The Most Mysterious Star in Our Galaxy

Dyson sphere?

On Apple’s Insurmountable Platform Advantage

Condé Nast Buys Pitchfork Media

Netflix too powerful for cable companies to snub, says Morgan Stanley

Christopher Nolan Praises 70mm Release Of 'The Hateful Eight

And rails against low-quality theatrical experiences.

How Tories win immigrant votes using anti-immigrant messages

Truly a depressing election.

Meet Toronto’s new masters of the pizza

Vietnamese chefs who worked in the kitchens of Italian pizza joints and now own their own shops

The Light L16 Camera and Computational Photography

The insane-sounding yet inevitable future of photography.

Prime Minister’s Office ordered halt to refugee processing

Embarrassing

‘Sluts Against Harper’ Will Send You Nudes for Voting

Paul Wells: What if Canadians elect a minority government?

Which is looking increasingly likely

Welcome to the Drone Age

Good overview of the state of things in drone land:

  <blockquote>        <p>The scale and scope of the revolution in the use of small, civilian drones has caught many by surprise. In 2010 America’s Federal Aviation Authority (<span class="caps">FAA</span>) estimated that there would, by 2020, be perhaps 15,000 such drones in the country. More than that number are now sold there every month.</p>    </blockquote>

High-Frequency Combat

Scandal Erupts in Unregulated World of Fantasy Sports

Fake homeless shelter pops up in affluent Toronto neighbourhood leaving residents in tears

That is a friggin’ ballsy ad

Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal Is Reached

Ad Age Imagines a World Without Ads, and It's Not Cheap

It’s actually not bad at all. BuzzFeed might cease to be? Horror!

There’s something delightfully existential about Ad Age panicking about ad blocking – it’s an ad-supported publication that would also lose its entire subject matter in a world without ads. When I think of a world without ads, it’s a sunny meadow with animals frolicking and birds perching on my shoulders.