Anu Partanen in the Atlantic: "while Americans love to talk about competition, Sahlberg points out that nothing makes Finns more uncomfortable. In his book Sahlberg quotes a line from Finnish writer named Samuli Puronen: "Real winners do not compete." It's hard to think of a more un-American idea, but when it comes to education, Finland's success shows that the Finnish attitude might have merits. There are no lists of best schools or teachers in Finland."

"SNCF and Deutsche Bahn are for the first time competing directly for mastery of European high-speed rail." "ICE trains are more spacious. French trains à grande vitesse (TGVs) are faster. The TGV is usually cheaper, but ICE trains are used to competing with German luxury cars."

"The Cycle Challenge is a competition to see which team can cycle the most miles in a month. Teams that come top win great prizes."

BBC press release for an Ordnance Survey competition. Except: "Ideas already submitted include a service that lets pedestrians map safe routes based on the location of CCTV cameras." "There are three broad themes for the GeoVation prize - crime, health and the environment, although entrants can come up with other ideas." Sigh.

Entries to the latest London by Londoners competition. There's a lot of good stuff in here; I'd have no chance. Also available as a slideshow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/lblcomp030/show/

er... crumbs.

Well, he got another one.