See the rest here.

… Obama would win.

8 major newspapers conducted a worldwide(ish) poll testing the waters of who would win the vote, if we all had a say. Obama was the favoured candidate in all countries, with Canada chiming in with a 70% Obama vote. 75% of Canadians also indicated, in a follow-up question, that troops should be withdrawn from Iraq.

There is also an online poll, not connected with the above results, that is still ongoing at IfTheWorldCouldVote.com. As of the time of this post, Obama was the favoured candidate in most countries, with Canada chiming in with 88.5%

More on this story from CTV or the ITWCV FAQ.

Follow the full election coverage on http://election.twitter.com/ – yes, both Obama and McCain are on twitter.

At 2:30 am on the morning of February 13th, an explosion in the 600-block of West Broadway in Vancouver leveled several street-level stores, including a Starbucks and Taco Del Mar, and did some damage to the London Drugs across the street. The noise and shock wave awoke residents for many blocks around.

No injuries have been reported, and no structural integrity issues have arisen as a result of the explosion.

Police and fire crews are investigating what caused the explosion and whether or not it was deliberately set. Police Spokesman Constable Tim Fanning said that arson investigators are calling the explosion "suspicious." Eye witnesses are reporting a man running from the area after the explosion. That said, fire investigators are looking into a possible gas leak at Taco Del Mar as the source of the problem.

You can view more photos taken by a local resident here.

Via canada.com, canadian press, aol Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Tags: starbucks, explosion, vancouver, broadway, fire

From an airplane to a lion to a shoe or a Coke bottle (shown), the shop fills orders for customers all around the world. And has been since the 1950s.

Asked about the most unusual design Doku’s company has been commissioned to produce Doku, without a second’s hesitation, said: "That’s easy, it was back in 1992. A German doctor called us and ordered the womb of a woman."

The company is run by Emmanuel Doku and was started with the inspiration of another called Ataa Owuo. With Ataa’s grandmother died, he realized she had never travelled anywhere during her life. So he made her an airplane coffin "to take her to heaven."

Via Yahoo Tags: coffins, bespoke, custom coffins, doku, ghana

And the ‘ho ho ho’ thing is actually true – there is a ban on Santa saying ‘ho ho ho’ in Australia for those very same reasons.

Tags: santa, ho ho ho, ban, australia, christmas, pc

There are three mascots and one sidekick:

• Miga — a snowboarding sea-bear inspired by the First Nations’ legends of the Pacific Northwest. Miga, described as mischievous and outgoing, is part sea-bear and part orca whale.
• Quatchi — a shy and gentle Sasquatch with a long brown beard and blue earmuffs meant to conjure the mystery and wonder associated with the Canada’s wilderness.
• Sumi — an animal guardian spirit, who flies with the wings of the thunderbird, is described as “a natural born leader with a passion for protecting the environment.”
• Mukmuk — a Vancouver Island marmot sidekick considered an honorary member of the mascot team.

A video introduction to these characters is available in the official 2010 Olympics website.

I’ve been talking to a few friends and their reactions have been mixed. Some of the comments I’ve heard are:

• Sumi sounds like “Sue Me!”
• They look like Japanase cartoon characters
• Quatchi reminds me of the Kokanee Sasquatch
• A fat sasquatch, a one-eyed teddy and a green alien looking thing!
• looks like they were designed by a big committee and crammed all the ideas in, and rejected none

More opinions: Darren, Miss604

What do you think?

Facebook is removing the mandatory "is" from status updates. Now your status can be something other than action-related. And grammar nuts like me can breathe a sigh of relief.

No more: "Arieanna is hating the WGA strike"

Instead: "Arieanna hates the WGA strike"

Much better.

The planned removal of ‘is’ will happen tonight.

The news will be warmly welcomed by thousands of activists who have joined more than 500 anti-"is" Facebook groups, including the "Campaign to lose the mandatory ‘is’ from status updates" and the "I die a little bit inside when I see grammatically incorrect status updates" group.

Via wired & allfacebook Tags: facebook, status updates, pet peeves

SANTIAGO.- Parece que definitivamente el “embrujo” del último libro de Harry Potter fue vencido por los internautas. Esto porque a la filtración de un ejemplar días antes del estreno mundial ahora se suma que fanáticos hispanoparlantes realizaron una traducción completa de éste y la subieron a Internet.

Source: emol.com

NowPublic

Tags: deathly hallows | harry potter | spanish | translation

The IOC Press Commission, chaired by Australian Kevan Gosper, is set to recommend that the IOC’s powerful executive board drop its opposition to athletes writing blogs during the Games when it meets in November.

Source: theaustralian.news.com.au

If the recommendation is approved athletes will still have to comply to strict rules such as not making any money and not criticising coaches or other athletes. They will also not be allowed to publish any video taken inside official Olympic venues. The main concerns being not giving a free platform for unofficial sponsors and not undermining the TV coverage by the official broadcasters.

If all goes well, athletes will be able to write on their blogs during the 2008 games in Beijing.

NowPublic

Tags: athens | athletes | Beijing | blogs | Games | internet | IOC | olympians | Olympics

This is something I never want to do – tattoo my eyeball. Apparently, intrigued that eyeballs are often tattooed for the blind, three people decided to try it out on their regular healthy eyes. You can read their story on Modblog, as well as these three updates. Freaky process.

Via neatorama ; Tags: tattoo, eyeball tattoo