A linkblog

Toronto is home to the world’s largest lake-powered cooling system. Here’s how it works. A fascinating infographic-driven look at how Toronto’s downtown core is cooled by water from Lake Ontario, saying 90,000 mega-watt hours of electricity each year.

Can democracies afford incompetent leaders? The case for training politicians – insightful piece, includes mention of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative that Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath is enrolled in.

‘Ignore them!’ Lineker’s advice on how BBC should deal with political opponents – applies to CBC as well. (Good advice in general for journalists, we need not be political ourselves to have political enemies)
“Gary Lineker has said the BBC should stop trying to placate its political opponents, adding that the broadcaster’s bosses spend too much time worrying about the views of people “who will hate you for ever.”

Where Have All the Lindas Gone? – In 1947, about one of every 18 baby girls was a Linda. Now? ‘We need some younger ones, get some new blood.’ I tweeted how this makes me think about how many women born in the 1980s are named Sarah. On Twitter, a friend links to the “Bob Emergency: More than 10,000 people named Bob have entered the world of sports. Today, there are only nine.”

The Texas Tribune is laying off staff. It is a concerning development for nonprofit journalism as the site is one of the most successful of the new age of journalism outlets.