25th January, 2012

Rapid Transit Branding. Winnipeg Style.

Am I the only one who kinda sorta doesn’t like the new Winnipeg Transit “Rapid Transit” logo and branding? One Man Committee makes a pretty good attempt at giving it a positive review. But I’m not sold.

I’m confused as to why they’ve chosen to exclude “Winnipeg Transit” from the branding. Bus rapid transit  is more or less completely integrated with the non-rapid transit system. It’s not like it’s going to be a separate division of the transit system. Winnipeg has a long history of public transit, dating back to the horse-drawn Winnipeg Street Railway corporation in the 1880s ( less than a decade after the City’s incorporation). Winnipeg Transit itself and the iconic flying “T’ logo have over 40 years of brand recognition. It’s usually a good idea to build of existing brand cred, isn’t it? The designer of this logo has chosen to ignore all this history and start over.

It logo itself is a rather predictable attempt creating a London underground style icon, with the “r” and “t” sort of resembling the lines on a subway route map, as One Man Committee points out. Again, how does this make any sense? We don’t actually have a subway system and there are no plans to build one. Where did the colours come from?

I’m simultaneously confused and bored.

Also, can you see “RT” without thinking “retweet”?

 

In related news, the new rapid transit corridor features a tunnel, so there’s that.

23rd January, 2012

How Friend’s Met Your Mother or Everything Old is New Again

This image is currently at the top of the Reddit front page. Click it for the full story.

So the thing is, I agree with the poster, it would appear that the general story arc of How I Met Your Mother bears a striking resemblance to Friends. Where I disagree with the poster and Reddit in general, is the implication. I do not thing this makes HIMYM good or bad. I feel like the three-camera sitcom format was perfect in the 80s or 90s and I am not surprised to see similar story arcs emerge. As someone who grew up with the ‘filmed before a live studio audience” shows of TGIF shows and a fan of even older 3-camera shows, I was pleasantly surprised to see the return of the format a few years ago. If the writers of the show are giving a nod their influences, then even better, imho.

That is all, Reddit STFU.

27th November, 2011

Best Lego Commercial Ever.

It’s so good I had to blog it!

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25th November, 2011

Blogs are dead! Newsletter are in!

⚡ I’m starting an email newsletter! Like it’s 2001. ⚡

Do you like animated gifs and memes? Do you like ASCII art? Have you ever eaten a burrito? Hamburger? Moustacheburger?

Share my love for these things….

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Thanks to Reddit user plonce for the idea.

14th October, 2011

Siri Can’t Map Canada

My desk neighbour showed up to work this morning with a brand new iPhone 4S. He let me play around with Siri a bit.

Looks like Siri is not fully functional in Canada.

Referencing location (eg. “Where am I?”) results in an error message stating that directions and maps are unavailable in Canada.

Update: Now with a screenshot.