[BLOG] Some Friday links

[rfmcdonald]

• blogTO looks at what the Financial District was like in the 1970s and 1980s, recommends things to do in Little Italy, and has ten quirky facts about the Toronto Islands.


• Centauri Dreams notes simulations of how solitary stars like our own Sun are formed.


• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper noting that evidence of a planetary system outside our own was first gathered in 1917, from a spectrum taken of Van Maanen's Star. It was only a matter of no one recognizing what the spectrum meant.


• Marginal Revolution notes a study of filesharing services suggesting that rich countries tend to see music downloads while poor ones download movies.


• The Planetary Science Blog takes a look at the discoveries of Dawn at proto-planet Vesta.


• pollotenchegg maps changes in industrial production in Ukraine, noting a collapse in rebel-held areas in the east.


• The Power and the Money's Noel Maurer compares the proposed Home Rule that would have been granted to Ireland in 1914 with current proposals for Scotland.


• Torontoist notes that despite population growth nearby, the Redpath Sugar Factory will be staying put.


• Towleroad notes that Estonia has become the first post-Soviet nation to recognize same-sex partnerships.


• Why I Love Toronto recommends Friday night events at the Royal Ontario Museum.


• Window on Eurasia suggests that the collapse of Russian civil society is a responsibility of Russian citizens as well as of their state.