If there are two passions of mine that I write about far too frequently, it’s motorsports and video games. Naturally, I love writing about and playing motorsport video games, especially proper racing sims.
Today, I have an infographic that combines both of my passions into one. Our friends at Team Sport have a look back at the history and evolution of racing video games. It even includes two games from Papyrus Racing Games who are my favourite racing sim devs of all time.
It looks like the good people of the Dogecoin community have started a trend and it looks like Phil Parsons Racing and the Doge Driver himself, Josh Wise, will be the beneficiaries. After /r/Dogecoin raised $60,000 to sponsor Wise’s car at Talladega and voted him into the NASCAR All-Star Race, now online racing sim iRacing is getting fans to help out Wise and Phil Parsons Racing.
The one problem with doing linkdumps around holiday weekends is that the internet seems to shut down and it gets harder to find quality links. I’ve got a few links this week but not as many as usual. Hopefully, normal service will resume next time out.
For now, it’s time for the links. Since an American holiday caused these problems, let’s kick things off with Canadian model Kate Bock.
Good news, Toronto! Doug Ford says that Rob Ford is doing much better in rehab and is going to be a brand new man when he returns in a few weeks. (Globe & Mail)
A writer goes through his reasons for changing his mind about reparations to victims of slavery in America. (The Atlantic)
A recent study on the effectiveness of airport security showed that all those TSA scans decease terrorism on airplanes but diverts terrorist attention elsewhere. (Vox)
What constitutes a family curse being broken? The Andretti family curse at the Indianapolis 500 goes back almost 50 years when Mario won his first and only Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. Neither son Michael nor grandson Marco have been able to win the race since then.
Since 1969, the Andrettis have won the 500 twice… as team owners. Michael’s team won the 2005 and 2007 races but he was just an owner. This year was the closest that an Andretti has come to winning the race but not thanks to Marco’s driving. It was Michael calling the shots on the pit box for race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay who picked up the win with a last lap pass of three-time race winner Helio Castroneves.
Let’s get this out of the way first: Nico Rosberg won the race for Mercedes in an absolutely dominant fashion. However, that wasn’t the real story of the race. The true hero of the Monaco Grand Prix was Jules Bianchi who kept his nose clean through the traffic, crashes and safety cars to finish 9th and score his and Marussia’s first ever points.
Last weekend was a Victoria Day set of links. Today, it’s a Memorial Day set of links. If you’re a Tea Partier, you’re probably not reading a Canadian blog so you won’t care that today’s links are a reality check.
But since this is an American holiday, let’s start with the one and only Jessica Alba.
India was well on its way to becoming a world power but the election of Narendra Modi could supercharge the country’s growth. (The Economist)
On this Memorial Day, remember that not everyone thinks America is the greatest country in the world. In fact, some people think that life in America is getting worse, not better. (The Nation)
There’s a fallacy that unemployment benefits discourage people from finding jobs and taking them away gets them to search faster. That assertion would be wrong. (Think Progress)
Welcome to Game of Thrones: A show with so much plot that even the narrative-heavy, transitional episodes have all sorts of important things to talk about. Even if Tyrion didn’t move one step closer to life or death, even if nothing new happened at Castle Black, even if Arya is still only wandering through the wilderness with Sandor Clegane, enough is happening that would make you think that this little setup episode is still one of the best of the season.
You know, I almost forgot the Power Rankings again. For a self-admitted massive Formula One fan, I don’t do much to prove it. Then again, if TSN didn’t leave promotion of Formula One races to in-program promos on NBC Sports Network simulcasts, maybe Canadians would remember when F1 races are!
Anyway, it’s Monaco time. Monaco is my second-favourite race of the year. Obviously, Canada is my favourite race because it’s the best race of the year. But Monaco starts off the best day in motorsports. From 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM EDT, there’s a solid wall of racing action and coverage. This is Motorsports Christmas. I love Memorial Day and I’m not even American.
You would think that our Memorial Day edition of the links would be the one with all the America links but I just happen to have a whole pile of them for today’s linkdump. At least they’re sort of interesting.
But just because there are a whole pile of ‘Murica links doesn’t mean that we’re going to lead with an American woman. No, here’s Nina Agdal.
The US Attorney General’s department has charged the Chinese government officials with cyber espionage. Unfortunately, the US Attorney General’s department immediately charged itself with criminal irony. (Time)
The US Department of Defense has a zombie defense plan. Well, I guess it’s better to be prepared than get caught off-guard by the apocalypse. (Foreign Policy)
Gay marriage may not be legal in most of America but most Americans support it. It’s gone from no support to majority support in less than fifty years. (Al Jazeera)
Once again, the bosses of the IndyCar series changed the format for qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. Instead of the top 24 starters locking in on Day One with the remainder of the runners locking in on Bump Day, the drivers had to lock into the field on Day One with the actual grid being set in single-run qualifying on Day Two.
However, the latest change in the qualifying format didn’t change anything from the previous Indy 500 qualifying weekend. When you’re hooked up at Indy, there’s little anyone can do to stop you. Just ask the now twice-defending Indy 500 pole winner Ed Carpenter.
The Lowdown 