From Special Olympics Canada:

In the early sixties, testing of children with intellectual disabilities revealed that they were only half as physically fit as their non-disabled peers. It was assumed that their low fitness levels were a direct result of mental retardation. A Toronto researcher and professor, Dr. Frank Hayden, questioned this assumption. Working with a control group of children on an intense fitness program, he demonstrated that, given the opportunity, intellectually disabled people could become physically fit and acquire the physical skills necessary to participate in sport.

Inspired by his discoveries, Dr. Hayden began searching for ways to develop a national sports program for intellectually disabled people. It was a goal he eventually achieved, albeit not in Canada. His work came to the attention of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and the Kennedy Foundation in Washington, D.C., and led to the creation of Special Olympics.

To ensure that Canada was represented, Dr. Hayden called on an old friend, Harry “Red” Foster… Inspired by his mother’s devotion to his younger brother, who was both blind and intellectually disabled, Mr. Foster began early in his career to devote much of his time, energy and wealth to addressing the problems faced by individuals with an intellectual disability and their families.

The following summer, 1969, the first Special Olympics Canada event was held in Toronto. From that modest beginning, the Special Olympics movement quickly spread across the country and grew into the national sports organization it is today.

Interesting.

I am obsessed with this Pig Puppet. He’s the hairy, dignified pig on the Craig Ferguson show. And I want one. Dignified puppets are the best kind.

1. 3D Brain (Free) provides information on brain regions and case studies and such. Pretty useful.
2. Cerebrii (Free) isn’t perfect, but there are some nice practice tests.
3. Brain Tutor 3D (Free) is cool because you can move through slices on MRI scans of a guy’s head and make it look like the guy is saying “weep woop weep woop!” Oh also you can learn things.

Was watching this again today. Still amused.

Via Gizmodo.

This is awesome. I used to be against these kinds of things that pretend that girls are actually made of sugar and spice and nothing else, but framing a puzzle game in this way may be a superficial but effective way of interesting girls in puzzles, which lead to math, which lead to Cory Booker-style deliciousness. I’m downloading the gender-neutral version as it’s also free today, but if you’d like a version that’s pink and in English, check out BrainFreeze Puzzles For Girls.

Update: Rats. I was a little late on the free download. My point on pink math awesomeness stands, however.

Download Enigma. It’s an Oxyd clone, and Oxyd is the greatest game ever made. Bar none.

Do it already.

WiFi Get: I found 3 free hotspots within 5 miles of me, and 4 paid hotspots. The interface is clean and simple, and it took 2 button presses to get what I needed. When you select one of the options, it shows the location with Maps. It uses miles rather than km which makes me think that spots are closer than they actually are, but that’s a little nitpicky. This app also offers the option to mark your current spot as a free hotspot. I found a random hotspot when I was walking around and added it; it didn’t show up right away when I searched again but it may show up the next time I check.

Both Wi-Fi Finder and Free Wi-Fi Finder are still acquiring my location. Dropped!

Wireless Toronto is ad-supported. I found 3 free hotspots within 8 km (5 miles). It automatically searches, so that’s zero button presses, and when you select one of the options, it shows the directions to that spot with Maps. All this means that it’s slightly more intuitive for the majority of folks, but it gives slightly fewer options for those that don’t think the way the program does. Personally, I really like it. The only problem is that it’s specific to Toronto, and I’m not. But if you’re the sort who’s in Toronto 99% of the time, this is a great one to get.

First of all, at 21 years, he was the longest-serving Prime Minister in British Commonwealth history. That’s pretty hefty. Sir John served 18 years, Trudeau served 15 years, Chretien served 10 years; all child’s play. Don’t waste my time, guys.

Secondly, and more awesomely, you can read his diaries on the internet. This is awesome, because you get to read great stories like the ones that my high school teacher told me, like this one:

When British parliament was bombed, WLMK had some of the stones from the old buildings sent to Ottawa. He proceeded to touch each of the stones and then Canadian parliament in turn, in order to imbue our buildings with British history.

I look forward to reading many similar stories in this archive. This may be the first time that the Canadian government has actually done some good on the internet.