The Economist has this piece about the decline of American shopping malls. Some of the problems: oversaturation, changing demographics (suburbs are getting poorer or becoming more diverse), online shopping. Some culture jammers are lopping off the heads of plastic mascots and photos in ads. I’d like to think this is a culture jam, but it […] More »

We ran into this great roundup of drinks inspired by Charles Dickens novels on the Guardian’s book blog. Perfect for those year end parties. Cheers guv’ner. Toronto ad company Taxi are creating coats for the homeless which will be distributed across North America in 2008. From Torontoist: The waterproof, windproof, and plentily-pocketed coat serves as […] More »

With most of Toronto paralyzed by a doozy of a winter storm I’m bringing you an extra large package of links this week: While, most of us probably aren’t thinking about cycling right now, Ontarians are getting a bit of a break when they buy bike stuff. Queen’s Park has removed the 8% PST on […] More »

Advertising is a pretty ubiquitous part of modern life sometimes it’s good: Like this artist who took the subject lines from spam e-mails and turned them into some pretty gorgeous art. Sometimes it’s ugly: Like when advertisers invade your head space. And other times it’s just plain funny. Like when Greenpeace reminds you that sunlight […] More »

In an effort to humanize our cetacean friends, Greenpeace is currently conducting an online poll of 30 possible names for the humpback whales travelling on the “Great Whale Trail”. The names are mostly cribbed from Pacific languages and international dignitaries. That said, anyone with a soft spot for the propogation of Maori culture better get […] More »

As part of its continuing coverage of the Alberta tar sands, The Dominion has published a detailed map of Alberta’s oil apparatus, as well as proposed and likely future hot spots for Alberta, B.C. and the North. It’s an excellent graphic, and a great example of how web content need not include bells and whistles […] More »

The Japanese space agency has these beautiful photos and video of an “earth rise” taken from their satellite Kaguya. For musicians with an eco-conscience, going on tour must come with a twinge of guilt. All that driving around can’t be good. Well one band we like, Toronto/Montreal indie-pop sweethearts, Stars, is carbon offsetting their tour. […] More »

She’s the sassy American philosopher who took Simone de Beauvoir’s assertion that “one is not born a woman, but rather becomes one”, and brought it to it’s logical conclusion in 1990’s Gender Trouble. That’s right, Judith Butler is totally back and she’s blowing minds. Yesterday marked the launch of Judy’s newest book, Who Sings the […] More »

Cory Doctorow from Boing Boing reports on a bank in Delhi run by street kids. The kids get to save a bit of money (which otherwise would be squandered or worse stolen) and learn valuable skills. Let’s face it long-form magazine articles are pesky. I mean c’mon we all know everyone buys magazines for charticles […] More »

One of the biggest mining endeavours in the world, the tar sands development in Alberta, is changing the face of that province and raises several issues around the environment, aboriginal rights, corporate taxation and more. Our friends at The Dominion have put together a special issue examining the tar sands development from several angles. In […] More »

So you’re sitting at your desk pretending to be hard at work, staring attentively at the screen while you put yet another jack of spades on top of the stack to complete your three hundredth game of solitaire. While you’re busy looking busy, why not do something useful? Freerice.com helps to end world hunger and […] More »