1. Sidney Crosby. It was a day some thought might never come. Canada’s Sid the Kid, out since early January with post-concussion syndrome, returned to the ice Monday night for his Penguins at home — with even CBC choosing to do a special broadcast. He was simply amazing, scoring two goals and two assists in a 5-0 storybook win over the Islanders. Yes, the best player in the world isn’t just back — he’s better than ever.
2. Feds and social media. Ottawa has rolled out formal guidelines for how their departments should use Twitter and Facebook, recognizing that “Web 2.0 is increasingly becoming a primary channel for sending, receiving and generating information.” The guidelines also say public servants should be aware of the risks of operating in social media circles. In other words, look for tweets of political correctness.
3. Occupy camps. Occupy protest camps in Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto were dismantled this week after eviction notices went out. The message(s) had been delivered, and the time had come for them to come down. The Toronto camp at St. James Park had taken on a life of its own: As Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti said, “We have Robin Hoods and makeshift Jesuses walking around, pretending that the park is theirs.” Now it’ll be Dog Park again.
4. Password. Hackers love those who choose “password” as their online password. And there are lots of you, according to Internet security firm SplashData, which released the top password name rankings based on millions of stolen passwords. The Top 5: 1. password 2. 123456 3. 12345678 4. qwerty 5. abc123. And you’d better be more creative than going with “monkey,” you monkeys. That’s No. 6 on the list.
5. Fox News. According to a new study, there is “something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on (news) questions than those who don’t watch any news at all.” The most informed respondents: People who listen to NPR, those who watch Sunday morning news programs and — best of all — viewers of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
6. ABA. With the NBA season a virtual wipeout due to the lockout, maybe the American Basketball Association will catch on. The calibre of play may not be up to NBA standards, but teams like the Los Angeles SLAM and Gulf Coast Flash could become household names if national TV chooses to broadcast some games. The legendary Dr. J got his start in the original ABA. There could be another legend waiting in the wings.
7. Watch your gadgets. A new poll by polling/social media company Poll Position found that more than 60 per cent of us spend between one to six hours a day watching electronic devices like TV, computer screen, e-reader, PDA or cellphone. So what the heck is the other 40 per cent doing?
