According to a new ranking of international cities by the Toronto Board of Trade, commute times are stalling Canadians, affecting the economic performance of our major cities. Not a single Canadian city cracked the top 10, which measured such factors as commute times and transit ridership. Montreal fared the best in 12th place, while Toronto came in at 19. Toronto's ranking wasn't helped by our 80-minute average round-trip commute, which signals an "urgent need to invest in public transportation."

It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it. Dog owners in the Beach will be holding their third annual Beachy-Clean Day on Sunday. Members of the Toronto Beaches Dog Association, along with volunteers from the community, will be cleaning the eastern beaches of, well, you know what (among other debris), to get it ready for spring users. "After using the beach to walk our dogs during the winter, this is our way of saying thanks to the community for allowing us to walk our dogs on the beach during the winter months," Chris Yaccato, chair of the Toronto Beaches Dog Association, said.

Whatever floats your boat. Dozens of people camped out Friday at the Eaton Centre in front of the Apple store to guarantee they'd get their hands on the new iPad 2 which didn't go on sale until 5 p.m. Oren Lasko was the lucky guy who was first in line, making his wait 36 hours long. Amazingly, there was "zero strategy, no plotting," Lasko said of how he decided when to get in line.

Though most of us know now the evening is way over-hyped, that shouldn't stop teens from low-income families from having the prom of their dreams. "New Circles," a not-for-profit organization, is accepting all kind of prom-related things for students. Dresses, shoes, purses, suits--if it's spiffy, they want it. To donate prom attire, visit 10 Gateway Boulevard, on the corner of Gateway and Don Mills Road. It's open Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. or until 7:00 p.m. on Thursdays.

IN BRIEF:

• Tonight is Earth Hour
• Raptors beat by Warriors
• Student fees restricted under new Ontario guidelines

Photo by Jefferson Photography in the blogTO Flickr pool.