Grope for Luna

2011-09-08T06:08:00.003-05:00

don't really read this post... but....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppnc3tl6ioo
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/eteisc/ocs/poster.php
http://philosophycfp.blogspot.com/2009_01_25_archive.html
http://www.cacs.louisiana.edu/~maida/ICScolloqCurrent/colloqCurrentSemester.html
http://anthrosciences.org/csac/new_sasci_members
http://www.stmcougars.com/site186.php
http://philosophycfp.blogspot.com/2009_04_19_archive.html
http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/proceedings/2009/papers/689/index.html
http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2007/05/student-travel.aspx
http://www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/FLAIRS/FLAIRS11/paper/viewPaper/2549
http://www.cacs.louisiana.edu/~maida/ICScolloqCurrent/spring04/roxiSpring04.html
http://aaai.org/ocs/index.php/FLAIRS/FLAIRS11/search/authors/view?firstName=Roxanne&middleName=Benoit&lastName=Raine&affiliation=University%20of%20Memphis&country=US
http://aaai.org/ocs/index.php/FLAIRS/FLAIRS11/search/authors/view?firstName=Roxanne&middleName=Benoit&lastName=Raine&affiliation=University%20of%20Memphis&country=US
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/who-dat-and-where-y%E2%80%99at/11477913
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=24&ved=0CC8QFjADOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fportal.acm.org%2Fcitation.cfm%3Fid%3D1724535&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=t59oTsaUF9DKiAK_q4GLBA&usg=AFQjCNG0UpUcoCEq945l85Mh-ZRAgqdlCg&cad=rja
http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/DASC.2009.141
http://www.cacs.louisiana.edu/~maida/ICScolloqCurrent/spring04/roxiSpring04.html
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=26&ved=0CD4QFjAFOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcsep.psyc.memphis.edu%2Fpdf%2FThe_W-Pal_Natural_Language_Algorithms.pdf&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=t59oTsaUF9DKiAK_q4GLBA&usg=AFQjCNF8Zxp65nWM66yUkcsCeTIsQvdC6w&cad=rja
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=39&ved=0CEsQFjAIOB4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ias.et.tu-dresden.de%2Fias%2Findex.php%3Fid%3D508&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=wqBoTsjMKsrZiAL2yvWKBA&usg=AFQjCNGObf0Z0g9LE64ZAFqONiY5d6VjNQ&cad=rja
Some of my work things in Cognitive Science:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppnc3tl6ioo
http://www.er.uqam.ca/nobel/eteisc/ocs/poster.php
http://philosophycfp.blogspot.com/2009_01_25_archive.html
http://www.cacs.louisiana.edu/~maida/ICScolloqCurrent/colloqCurrentSemester.html
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=167&ved=0CEAQFjAGOKAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcsjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu%2Fproceedings%2F2009%2Fpdfs%2FReviewerList.pdf&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=A6ZoTsufD6rliAKamqGRBA&usg=AFQjCNHiu-gevca-rmvMBb9zDyq2Ozxcdw&cad=rja
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=189&ved=0CEwQFjAIOLQB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.123people.com%2Fs%2Fistvan%2Bberkeley&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=OaZoTuP_E8jliAK8tcWEBA&usg=AFQjCNHLIyc7qI8Z5fA5VvM8tquvqhgeJg&cad=rja

http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/DASC.2009.8
http://socialsciences.academickeys.com/browse_whoswho_by_institution/University_of_Louisiana,_Lafayette?start=60&sort=institution
http://www.scss.tcd.ie/disciplines/intelligent_systems/clg/clg_web/COST2102.IS2009/content/program/node9.html
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=107&ved=0CD4QFjAGOGQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpalm.mindmodeling.org%2Fcogsci2010%2Fpdfs%2FReviewerList.pdf&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=ZqRoTp6PHKbZiALtqbT4Aw&usg=AFQjCNF-YmhL2C68mFnbEERZKwCkHZdgRw&cad=rja
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=114&ved=0CCsQFjADOG4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fm.core-apps.com%2Faps2011%2Fspeakers%2FR&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=H6VoTofwEqPjiALFt-ydBA&usg=AFQjCNGpzqudfpQ_Nk-MaKp53Muk48S33Q&cad=rja
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=115&ved=0CDIQFjAEOG4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.unich.it%2Funichieti%2FShowBinary%2FBEA%2520Repository%2FArea_Siti_federati%2FPsicologia%2FArea_Eventi%2F0_aprile%2FSeminario%2520Di%2520Sano%2F%2Fcontenuto_base.corpo&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=H6VoTofwEqPjiALFt-ydBA&usg=AFQjCNG3iMYGIupIFTUeBCBXCaRKXiLpSQ&cad=rja
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=149&ved=0CE4QFjAIOIwB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fapcam.us%2FAPCAM2010.pdf&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=kKVoTvyCH-jniAKL35igBA&usg=AFQjCNF0kSnza4B2JeR0qutcPjlbsgcDFA&cad=rja
http://ebookbrowse.com/raine-making-a-clever-intelligent-agent-pdf-d114419487
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=149&ved=0CE4QFjAIOIwB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fapcam.us%2FAPCAM2010.pdf&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=kKVoTvyCH-jniAKL35igBA&usg=AFQjCNF0kSnza4B2JeR0qutcPjlbsgcDFA&cad=rja
http://hi.baidu.com/web300/blog/item/512e6a10c0e8890a203f2e61.html

http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/proceedings/2009/reviewers.html
http://books.google.com/books?id=p0lHQ8axchUC&pg=PR11&lpg=PR11&dq=roxanne+raine&source=bl&ots=jcgyAtRDub&sig=Jz9Lpk8dcqG3jYdqCaCsHk4IkQ0&hl=en&ei=taJoTvP_GsXZiALausykBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ6AEwADg8#v=onepage&q=roxanne%20raine&f=false
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=97&ved=0CEMQFjAGOFo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.societyfortextanddiscourse.org%2Fconferences%2F2010_program_june15_rev.pdf&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=SKRoTuQl5uWIAqmInIgE&usg=AFQjCNF5SHLkAtfBAcEoZAEfIy8Dkh5fwA&cad=rja

http://anthrosciences.org/csac/new_sasci_members
http://www.stmcougars.com/site186.php
http://philosophycfp.blogspot.com/2009_04_19_archive.html
http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/proceedings/2009/papers/689/index.html
http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2007/05/student-travel.aspx
http://www.aaai.org/ocs/index.php/FLAIRS/FLAIRS11/paper/viewPaper/2549
http://www.cacs.louisiana.edu/~maida/ICScolloqCurrent/spring04/roxiSpring04.html
http://aaai.org/ocs/index.php/FLAIRS/FLAIRS11/search/authors/view?firstName=Roxanne&middleName=Benoit&lastName=Raine&affiliation=University%20of%20Memphis&country=US
http://aaai.org/ocs/index.php/FLAIRS/FLAIRS11/search/authors/view?firstName=Roxanne&middleName=Benoit&lastName=Raine&affiliation=University%20of%20Memphis&country=US
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/who-dat-and-where-y%E2%80%99at/11477913
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=24&ved=0CC8QFjADOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fportal.acm.org%2Fcitation.cfm%3Fid%3D1724535&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=t59oTsaUF9DKiAK_q4GLBA&usg=AFQjCNG0UpUcoCEq945l85Mh-ZRAgqdlCg&cad=rja
http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/DASC.2009.141
http://www.cacs.louisiana.edu/~maida/ICScolloqCurrent/spring04/roxiSpring04.html
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=26&ved=0CD4QFjAFOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcsep.psyc.memphis.edu%2Fpdf%2FThe_W-Pal_Natural_Language_Algorithms.pdf&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=t59oTsaUF9DKiAK_q4GLBA&usg=AFQjCNF8Zxp65nWM66yUkcsCeTIsQvdC6w&cad=rja
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=39&ved=0CEsQFjAIOB4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ias.et.tu-dresden.de%2Fias%2Findex.php%3Fid%3D508&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=wqBoTsjMKsrZiAL2yvWKBA&usg=AFQjCNGObf0Z0g9LE64ZAFqONiY5d6VjNQ&cad=rja
http://conference.itcs.tsinghua.edu.cn/ICS2010/content/posterabstracts.html
http://www.cacs.louisiana.edu/~maida/ICScolloqCurrent/spring04/roxiSpring04.html
http://aaai.org/ocs/index.php/FLAIRS/FLAIRS11/search/authors/view?firstName=Roxanne&middleName=Benoit&lastName=Raine&affiliation=University%20of%20Memphis&country=US
http://palm.mindmodeling.org/cogsci2010/reviewers.html
http://conference.itcs.tsinghua.edu.cn/ICS2010/content/posterabstracts.html
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=60&ved=0CFQQFjAJODI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iiassvietri.it%2Fschool_2009%2FDownload%2F25_11_2010_COST_2102_International_Scientific_Committee.doc&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=laJoTqHxFevYiAK_psyqBA&usg=AFQjCNFDk_RzlfTEsw6hF6yo3B067iWyHQ&cad=rja
http://m.core-apps.com/aps2011/abstract/eb15948d0d549465af0317eb51318c65
http://academic.research.microsoft.com/Publication/845097/contributing-to-discourse
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=80&ved=0CFYQFjAJOEY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.earth-prints.org%2Fbitstream%2F2122%2F6805%2F1%2FLNCS_6456_InPress%2520esposito.pdf&rct=j&q=roxanne%20raine&ei=U6NoTu2WM6zWiALA0YywBA&usg=AFQjCNH8M5u774SD7n2wv3Gd88C0Wiqphg&cad=rja
http://academic.research.microsoft.com/Publication/845097/contributing-to-discourse

graphic novel set in 2024 free preview

2010-11-08T08:29:00.006-06:00

pRETTY neat graphic novel about a futuristic world that asks the question: what if we all stopped being able to create and invent and modify?

check out the free preview here.

via kurtzweilAI.net.

coach seat laptop

2010-11-08T08:10:00.003-06:00

Finally, a computer you can easily use on the plane!!! In COACH! Laptops ain't just for the rich folks anymore!

Via: Ubergizmo

Avail: ... well, you might have to make it yourself. Check out the Ben Heck show.

Cigarettes you can smoke inside

2010-08-10T00:07:00.005-05:00

Yes, they are tobacco. You can smoke them inside. There is no tar. They are much cheaper. I'm sold.

They're Luci cigarettes

big, bang, boom

2010-07-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

2010-06-09T13:55:00.001-05:00

The Senate plans to vote June 10 on a measure that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Resolution of Disapproval, a rarely used procedure that only requires 51 votes to pass, is sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and has 41 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle. It would nullify EPA's finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare, thereby striking EPA's authority to regulate GHG emissions. Although the resolution is unlikely to become law, the vote is seen as a bellwether on climate change legislation.

This is one of the main reasons I've found supporting Murkowski's resolution: "For starters, the endangerment finding compels the EPA to establish greenhouse gas (GHG) emission standards for new motor vehicles. About 95% of vehicular GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from gasoline combustion. Because no commercial technologies exist to filter CO2 emissions from automobile tailpipes, automakers can significantly reduce the quantity of CO2 emitted per mile only by reducing the quantity of gasoline combusted per mile."

--How is the movement to have vehicles use less gas per mile a bad thing that must be stopped???

____________
On June 10, the U.S. Senate will consider a "resolution of disapproval" regarding a 2009 ruling made by the EPA in late 2009 claiming six Greenhouse Gases are a threat to Public Health. This makes these Gases -- Carbon Dioxide, Methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride -- subject to Regulation under the Clean Air Act. "The EPA's endangerment finding endangers our economy and our liberty," said Deneen Borelli.
via
___________

Imagine if lawmakers had blocked the Clean Air Act rule to phase lead out of Gasoline. Industry leaders certainly tried, and the fight over the lead looked a lot like the current battle over Global Warming Pollution. It too started with an EPA endangerment finding, one that said lead in Gasoline was a threat to Public Health. Oil companies claimed that the science wasn’t strong enough to justify the costs.
via
___________

S.J.RES.26
Title: A joint resolution disapproving a rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to the endangerment finding and the cause or contribute findings for greenhouse gases under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act.
Sponsor: Sen Murkowski, Lisa [AK] (introduced 1/21/2010) Cosponsors (40)
Related Bills: H.RES.974, H.J.RES.66, H.J.RES.76, H.J.RES.77
Latest Major Action: 6/7/2010 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 418. COSPONSORS(40), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)

Sen Alexander, Lamar [TN] - 1/21/2010
Sen Barrasso, John [WY] - 1/21/2010
Sen Bennett, Robert F. [UT] - 1/21/2010
Sen Bond, Christopher S. [MO] - 1/21/2010
Sen Brownback, Sam [KS] - 1/21/2010
Sen Bunning, Jim [KY] - 1/21/2010
Sen Burr, Richard [NC] - 1/21/2010
Sen Chambliss, Saxby [GA] - 1/21/2010
Sen Coburn, Tom [OK] - 1/21/2010
Sen Cochran, Thad [MS] - 1/21/2010
Sen Corker, Bob [TN] - 1/21/2010
Sen Cornyn, John [TX] - 1/21/2010
Sen Crapo, Mike [ID] - 1/21/2010
Sen DeMint, Jim [SC] - 1/21/2010
Sen Ensign, John [NV] - 1/26/2010
Sen Enzi, Michael B. [WY] - 1/21/2010
Sen Graham, Lindsey [SC] - 1/21/2010
Sen Grassley, Chuck [IA] - 1/21/2010
Sen Gregg, Judd [NH] - 1/21/2010
Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] - 1/21/2010
Sen Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX] - 1/21/2010
Sen Inhofe, James M. [OK] - 1/21/2010
Sen Isakson, Johnny [GA] - 1/21/2010
Sen Johanns, Mike [NE] - 1/21/2010
Sen Kyl, Jon [AZ] - 1/21/2010
Sen Landrieu, Mary L. [LA] - 1/21/2010
Sen LeMieux, George S. [FL] - 1/21/2010
Sen Lincoln, Blanche L. [AR] - 1/21/2010
Sen Lugar, Richard G. [IN] - 1/21/2010
Sen McCain, John [AZ] - 1/21/2010
Sen McConnell, Mitch [KY] - 1/21/2010
Sen Nelson, E. Benjamin [NE] - 1/21/2010
Sen Risch, James E. [ID] - 1/21/2010
Sen Roberts, Pat [KS] - 1/21/2010
Sen Sessions, Jeff [AL] - 1/21/2010
Sen Shelby, Richard C. [AL] - 1/21/2010
Sen Thune, John [SD] - 1/21/2010
Sen Vitter, David [LA] - 1/21/2010
Sen Voinovich, George V. [OH] - 1/21/2010
Sen Wicker, Roger F. [MS] - 1/21/2010

__________
Senator Murkowski is correct to raise concerns that EPA’s approach will be challenged in the courts and could be overturned. But any resolution in the courts will take time. Disapproving the endangerment finding would not only be wrong as a matter of fact, it is also unnecessary, if the goal is to buy time for Congress to act.

Recognizing that Congress is best positioned to craft a cost-effective comprehensive clean energy bill doesn’t guarantee that it will happen any time soon. At the same time, recognizing that the Clean Air Act isn’t ideally designed to control greenhouse gas emissions doesn’t mean that it can’t be used to positive effect. We need to begin shifting to clean energy now. It would be wrong to disarm EPA with no certainty of a legislative solution.
via
_________
Watch Senator Murkowski's presentation:

_________

oil

2010-05-20T00:03:00.001-05:00

Oil from BP Disaster Reaching Louisiana Marshes

Democracy Now Headlines, May 19, 2010

Oil from the BP rig explosion has begun reaching ecologically fragile coastal marshes on the Louisiana coast. On Tuesday, thick tides of brown oil began washing ashore in south Louisiana, raising fears of a catastrophe for the local seafood industry and a more porous defense against future hurricane storms. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has nearly doubled the size of a fishing ban to cover 19 percent of the entire Gulf of Mexico.

Footage Undermines BP Claims on Containing Oil

BP, meanwhile, says it’s increased the amount of oil being siphoned from the leaking oil well to around 2,000 barrels of oil a day, up from 1,000. But new video footage of the leak posted by Democratic Senator Bill Nelson shows the black clouds of oil appear to be leaking at the same levels of a week ago. The video also appears to show a new breach in the drill pipe. US officials meanwhile say they’ve begun testing tar balls found off Key West, Florida to determine whether the oil has entered a loop current that’s carrying it to the Florida Keys and up the East Coast. The news comes as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave his first congressional testimony since the BP rig exploded last month. Salazar acknowledged problems at the Minerals Management Service but said BP is ultimately responsible for the spill.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar: "We have made it clear from day one that BP is the responsible party to take care of all of the costs associated with this incident, including whatever damages might arise from this incident to natural resources as well as to people and businesses and communities who might be affected by this incident."

The Minerals Management Service has come under scrutiny following the disclosure it exempted BP from a comprehensive environmental review of the project that resulted in the spill. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon called for a complete overhaul of the MMS.

Sen. Ron Wyden: "Mr. Secretary, it is long past time to drain the safety and environmental swamp at the Minerals Management Agency, which of course is the lead federal agency over oil drilling. Now, my view is that this agency had been denial about safety problems for years."

GOP Blocks Proposal to Raise Oil Spill Liability

Meanwhile Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked for a second time a proposal to raise the ceiling for oil spill liability to $10 billion from the current $75 million.

________

Big oil eyes B.C. coast, notwithstanding Gulf of Mexico spill
Marine mammals have made a remarkable recovery in this province, but that could be erased by a catastrophic oil spill.
By Charlie Smith
Georgia Straight, May 13, 2010

Since 2004, scientists have been travelling up and down the B.C. coast on the Achiever, a steel-hulled, 22-metre sloop owned by the Raincoast Conservation Society. In this time, they have covered more than 14,000 kilometres, recorded more than 2,000 sightings of marine mammals, and logged almost 15,000 sightings of marine birds.

From 2005 to 2008, they focused their efforts on the Queen Charlotte Basin, which stretches from north of Vancouver Island to Dixon Entrance on the Alaskan border. The scientists and crew weathered hurricane-force winds along proposed oil-tanker routes, according to a report released in late March called What’s at Stake: The Cost of Oil on British Columbia’s Priceless Coast.

Raincoast’s senior scientist, Paul Paquet, told the Georgia Straight in a recent phone interview that they could find no “good route” for tankers. “Pretty much any choice puts the coast in jeopardy,” Paquet said. “That was pretty striking for us, because we thought a lot about that.”

The Raincoast reportan exhaustive 60-page survey of coastal marine mammals, seabirds, and land-based mammals that depend on the marine environmentwas made public less than a month before a BP drilling platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, spewing almost 800,000 litres of oil a day into the water.

Raincoast’s executive director, Chris Genovali, told the Straight by phone that his group conducted about six years of intensive fieldwork recording the abundance and distribution of wildlife in Hecate Straiteast of Haida Gwaii, stretching from Bella Bella north to Prince Rupertbecause there was a “big gap” around the potential consequences of an oil spill on the West Coast. This was followed by a year and a half of data analysis, working with scientists from North Carolina’s Duke University.

“We’re witnessing a recovery of a few different marine-mammal species after a long, dark history of exploitation of these animals,” Genovali said. “Now as we see this recovery starting to happen, are we going to put them at risk by allowing tanker routes to go through their feeding grounds and risk their habitat with the threat of a catastrophic oil spill? As an example, more sea otters died in the Exxon Valdez spill [in 1989] than exist on the entire central and northern coast of British Columbia.”

As the Straight went to press, BP had still not capped its leaking well, which is 1.5 kilometres below the surface in the Gulf of Mexico. Now into its fourth week, the oil spill poses a significant threat to marine life and the fishing industry. According to the Tucson, Arizona–based Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Department of the Interior exempted BP’s offshore-drilling plan from an environmental review and didn’t require the company to provide “a scenario for a potential blowout from which BP would expect to have the highest volume of liquid hydrocarbons”.

The timing of BP’s spectacular failure couldn’t be worse for Toronto-based pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. It has indicated that it will file a formal application this month to federal regulators for a new $5.5-billion pipeline project that will be reviewed jointly by the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. If approved, the company’s Northern Gateway Project would move oil from the Alberta tar sands to Kitimat, where it would be shipped in oil tankers through the Queen Charlotte Basin.

The Northern Gateway Project would include two underground 1,172-kilometre pipelines and 14 storage tanks. One pipeline would import 193,000 barrels a day of a natural-gas byproduct called condensate, which thins oil, from Kitimat to a destination near Bruderheim, Alberta. The other pipeline would export 525,000 barrels a day of oilcreated from bitumen and condensateto Kitimat. Enbridge estimates there would be 220 ship calls per year.

This is not the only megaproject that might move oil and petrochemical products between Alberta and the north coast, according to the Living Oceans Society. Its Web site states that Kinder Morgan “proposes” to expand its pipeline system from the tar sands to Kitimat, which could require up to 14 tankers per month to export the oil. (Kinder Morgan spokesperson Andrew Galarnyk told the Straight by phone, “While we considered this as an option some time ago, we do not have a pipeline proposal to go through Kitimat at this time.”)

“If they allowed tankers on this coast, it’s a slippery slope to offshore oil and gas development,” Living Oceans Society executive director Jennifer Lash told the Straight by phone. “I think the minute that happens, the province will be out there pushing it as hard as you can possibly imagine. And I think it’s very, very scary for us to start going down that road.”

Meanwhile, the B.C. Liberal government continues to keep the door open to the possibility of offshore drilling for oil and gas. Shell Canada drilled 14 wells in the late 1960s between Barkley Sound and Hecate Strait. The program was halted in the wake of a devastating offshore-drilling-related spill in Santa Barbara, California, in 1969. This led the Canadian government to impose a moratorium on offshore exploration and tanker traffic on the West Coast in 1972.

Art Sterritt, executive director of Coastal First Nations, told the Straight by phone that the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico demonstrates the inadequacy of technology to save a coastline after an oil spill. “They always like to say they have the state-of-the-art technology and there will be no damage,” he said. “Well, look at them in the Gulf. The vessels that are being used to try and mop that up are larger than anything we’ve seen on the coast. They’re actually accomplishing nothing.”

Enbridge and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers were given ample opportunity to comment, but did not respond to the Straight’s requests for interviews by deadline. Enbridge’s Web site features three videos produced by former television reporter Stuart McNish that highlight the safety records of double-hulled tankers leaving large oil ports in the Shetland Islands, Norway, and Sweden.

In a brochure, Enbridge promises that all vessels entering the Kitimat Marine Terminal would be “modern and double-hulled” and that they would be limited to eight to 12 knots in marine channels. Tankers carrying oil and condensate would also be guided by escort tugs captained by “master mariners”. In addition, there will be an “advanced radar system” built for the benefit of all marine traffic on the northwest coast.

Videos and Continued article:
http://www.straight.com/article-323589/vancouver/big-oil-eyes-bc-coast

See also
B.C. Liberals set stage for offshore oil and gas drilling

Raincoast’s senior scientist, Paul Paquet, told the Georgia Straight in a recent phone interview that they could find no “good route” for tankers. “Pretty much any choice puts the coast in jeopardy,” Paquet said. “That was pretty
____

Gulf oil spill spurs Canadian concerns
May 3rd 2010
by Misty MacDuffee
Raincoast..org

In the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, federal opposition parties are calling for emergency hearings before the Commons Natural Resources Committee to discuss the need for more stringent safeguards against oil spills in Canada’s Arctic. But the public needs be properly and clearly informed as to the risks and tradeoffs with regard to proposed oil development and transport for the BC coast as well; Raincoast’s recently released report, ‘ What’s at Stake – The cost of oil on British Columbia’s priceless coast,’ is designed to do just that.

Check out Huffington Post for oil spill updates and impacts.

Check out Democracy Now for interview with Alaskan toxicologist Dr. Rikki Ott

Posted on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 at 11:06 am and is filed under Announcements - Marine habitat and climate.

Tags: Canadian concerns re gulf oil spill, Gulf oil spill, oil and gas hearing need to include BC

Chuck Norris

2010-05-17T13:29:00.001-05:00

Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.

Chuck Norris once visited the Virgin Islands. They are now The Islands.

Leading hand sanitizers claim they can kill 99.9 percent of germs. Chuck Norris can kill 100 percent of whatever the fuck he wants.

Some kids piss their name in the snow. Chuck Norris can piss his name into concrete.

Once, while having sex in a tractor-trailer, part of Chuck Norris' sperm escaped and got into the engine. We now know this truck as Optimus Prime.

Chuck Norris can speak braille.

Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.

Chuck Norris' calendar goes straight from March 31st to April 2nd; no one fools Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

Chuck Norris once won a game of Connect Four in 3 moves.

Chuck Norris puts the "laughter" in "manslaughter".

Chuck Norris can delete the Recycling Bin.

Chuck Norris owns the greatest Poker Face of all-time. It helped him win the 1983 World Series of Poker despite him holding just a Joker, a Get out of Jail Free Monopoly card, a 2 of clubs, 7 of spades and a green #4 card from the game Uno.

Chuck Norris runs Windows Vista on his Etch-a-Sketch.

On a high school math test, Chuck Norris put down "Violence" as every one of the answers. He got an A+ on the test because Chuck Norris solves all his problems with Violence.

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

Once a cobra bit Chuck Norris' leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.

If it looks like chicken, tastes like chicken, and feels like chicken but Chuck Norris says its beef, then it's fucking beef.

Chuck Norris can slam revolving doors.

Chuck Norris can squeeze orange juice out of a lemon

Chuck Norris does not hunt because the word hunting implies the possibility of failure. Chuck Norris goes killing.

Superman owns a pair of Chuck Norris pajamas.

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Chuck Norris secretly sleeps with every woman in the world once a month. They bleed for a week as a result.

Death once had a near-Chuck-Norris experience.

Chuck Norris' dog is trained to pick up his own poop because Chuck Norris will not take shit from anyone.

Chuck Norris was once on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and was the first to spin. The next 29 minutes of the show consisted of everyone standing around awkwardly, waiting for the wheel to stop.

Chuck Norris doesn't have hair on his testicles, because hair does not grow on steel.

Chuck Norris can play the violin with a piano

Chuck Norris is always on top during sex because Chuck Norris never fucks up.

Ghosts are actually caused by Chuck Norris killing people faster than Death can process them.

Chuck Norris doesn't pop his collar, his shirts just get erections when they touch his body.

Chuck Norris has to maintain a concealed weapon license in all 50 states in order to legally wear pants.

Chuck Norris can build a snowman out of rain.

Chuck Norris once punched a man in the soul.

Chuck Norris eats the core of an apple first.

This song makes me happy.

2010-05-07T13:41:00.000-05:00

Yoko Ono, Babies, pee as electricity, more...

2010-05-07T12:50:00.004-05:00

PHOTOS
Drinking and driving: Now an arcade game. Via & via. $6995

Ice Cube and Ice-T-adorned soda fountain. Via.

THINGS I WANT:

Philips Wake Up Alarm Clock with iPod Dock. $180, here.

In an older post here on GfL, I mentioned a $160 camera for taking time-lapsed shots of flowers. IF I were willing to pay $160, this is one more idea that I have for it.

today's girly robot:

Via.

In other news:
Yoko Ono remixes (check out #10, #13) contest winners.

Science fiction story ideas you can use.

Pee-operated battery.

biodegradable cigarette butts that even have flower seeds in them!

Previously:
Babies movie.

2010-05-02T23:24:00.002-05:00

"Little Pink Ink Monsters" - - Camilla d'Errico's print of the month.

"Barefoot Medusa" - - Ronnie del Carmen.

Both via.

ah, barb

2010-05-02T13:31:00.004-05:00

Barbara Kruger, it's been a while since I've seen you around!

All of those are
via.

Barbara Kruger was one of my favorites when I was about 19... Now, she is a little more in-your-face than my taste, but she still brings back my nostalgia for my years when I was more filled with contrariness... ah, bittersweet. Here are some oldie-but-goodies from BK:

Also see here.

cookin

2010-05-01T14:13:00.001-05:00

Also: how to boil the perfect egg.

Save videos 2 ways

2010-04-29T11:52:00.004-05:00

Savevideo.me lets you easily download YouTube videos.

Via.
See here.

Better:
Or, just type pwn in the html code to youtube web addresses:

See here.

strange

2010-04-26T20:01:00.000-05:00

this figurine is weird

If you want one, you're out of luck because this $88 item was one of 125, and is sold out. And, if you want one, you're weird.

octopus plays turtle

2010-04-25T12:05:00.000-05:00

paper boxes

2010-04-25T11:41:00.003-05:00

More here.

Legos for Hamsters

2010-04-22T18:51:00.001-05:00

Via Japan Probe.

seasonal links, and some not-so-seasonal links...

2010-04-22T11:23:00.002-05:00

Pictures of Cherry Blossoms in Japan.

Declutter Google Reader. Via.

Mental illness in a very non trivial way arises from competing with extraordinary competitors, and what it might mean in the workplace.

Scary Easter bunnies.

boxers

2010-04-22T11:12:00.002-05:00

These boxes can fit ANYTHING!

Via.

neat lunch bento boxes

2010-04-21T13:20:00.001-05:00

Via.
~ $22

potty

2010-04-20T11:22:00.002-05:00

Via.

In other news...
Making pig poop eco-friendly.

subways

2010-04-16T16:25:00.001-05:00

Most beautiful subways around the world

barcelona's Drassanes Station

moscow's Komsomolskaya station

moscow's Komsomolskaya station

prague's a line

See more.
Via.

2010-04-15T21:06:00.000-05:00

Not a spiral.

You'll need to follow one of the blue circles with your cursor/mouse dealio to realize that this is not a spiral. Each blue ring is a full circle.
Via.

circuit board head

Via.

Robot plants

2010-04-12T11:34:00.002-05:00

Bio-robotics

these plants navigate around getting what they need for themselves. robots make plants mobile.

Via.

2010-04-09T13:55:00.002-05:00

Via. Avail ($325) on Etsy.

NYC meets donkey kong and pac man.

2010-04-08T21:45:00.001-05:00

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. - Watch original web videos.

Getting around

2010-04-07T09:24:00.004-05:00

VIDEO:
Treadmill bike.

PHOTOS

French Teen Wolf.
Via.

Robo-skateboard:

Via.
Researchers at the Shibaura Institute of Technology of Tokyo recently introduced this robotic skateboard, that uses technology similar to the Segway. By transferring one's weight, the rider can communicate with the computer to accelerate. The target market date is 2013.

THINGS I WANT:

MapQuest's new turn-by-turn voice-guided GPS. It's FREE.
Via.

In an older post here on GfL, I mentioned a $160 camera for taking time-lapsed shots of flowers. IF I were willing to pay $160, this is one more idea that I have for it.

by Sean Stiegemeier.
Via.

today's girly robot:
Make your own CD LadyBug robot.

Biological Art

2010-04-06T13:23:00.002-05:00

VIDEO

Mollie Manier of Syracuse University dyed sperm to watch them glow and investigate their travels. Sometimes good science makes for intriguing entertainment.
Via.

Medical imaging from Hybrid Medical Animation.

PHOTOS

Many more, from Battlestar Gallactica to Mario Brothers, to Star Trek here.
Via.

Cute goldfish.

Make your own this free pattern.
Via.

In other news...
Biology art.

Doggie undies, uncanny valley, saving water by showering together.

2010-04-05T11:56:00.002-05:00

PHOTOS

Poor dog.

A ridiculous number and variety of cummerbunds, thongs and panties are available on the Pants for Dogs blog.
Via.

In other news...

Download a good song for free.

Shower like a gangsta:

Yep, that's soap.
Avail: $15.
Via.

today's girly robot:
A new one from Hiroshi Ishiguru:
Via & Via.

green
Save time. Shower together. Plus, you save water and your back gets cleaner.

I'm only going to eat chocolate bunnies today.

2010-04-04T13:00:00.002-05:00

VIDEO
Lady Gaga / Alice in Wonderland mashup.

The mashup is pretty cheesey. But the real movie wasn't all that extraordinary either. They probably could have used some gaga up in there.
javascript:void(0)

Cartman does Poker Face.

LIST:
18 Google Chrome extensions that you should download.

THING I WANT:
Knitted "moon cake" earmuffs
Made from fair-trade Tibetan herded yak fibers.
Via.
Avail ($35).

today's girly robot:

Memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning "Remember you must die"

2010-04-03T14:54:00.002-05:00

VIDEO

05 - Emisora Cadaver (Var) by Loquaz
More by
Escuela Flamenca here. Check out Proceso de Paz (Process of Peace) if you liked this song. It is beautiful too.

Miscellaneous:

In other news...

The *zero* blind mice.

"Scientists from Buffalo, Cleveland, and Oklahoma City made a huge step toward making the blind see, and they did it by using a form of gene therapy that does not involve the use of modified viruses. "

Stiff.

I just finished reading this book. It was excellent. A NY Times bestseller, and with good reason for that.
Avail.

A new iPhone ap that lets you view cadavers at a number of layers.

made by the University of Utah, the ap comes with the following features:

Rotate the cadaver and zoom in or out to more clearly see any structure
Each label is accompanied by text describing its structure and function
A search engine allows you to easily locate any structure on the cadaver
A toggle button on the home screen allows you to toggle on or off a “Genital Blur” lest you be tempted to giggle at the genitalia while studying…

Via.
Avail ($9.99).
But if you're willing to splurge ($39.99), Netter's is better.

Little Johnny joke comes to life.

2009-12-25T22:48:00.001-06:00

The mail man comes over and little Johnny is sitting on the front porch smoking a cigar and drinking some whiskey. The mail man says, little Johnny, is your mamma home? Little Johnny takes a swig, takes a drag, exhales "What the F*** do you think?"

babies, bizarre gifts, electricity-producing carts

2009-12-11T12:12:00.008-06:00

VIDEO
Everybody loves babies! Now there's a movie of them to love too!

PHOTOS
Making Google street view into art.

Jon Afman enlarges photos he found on Google street view to tremendous, gigantic sizes, and voila. We have art. Just like that.

In the picture above, there is writing above the door that is kind of hard to see. It says "Rod Stewart Fan Club."

Also see here and here for more. Download his collection here.
And start your own collection, check out Google's very own picks of the best from Google sight-seeing on their Twitter page (to restate a lame pun from around the web, it's "Stweet").

LIST:
Ten odd things you can buy from Amazon.

THING I WANT:
Neat design: A new spin on the hanging lamp.
Via, via, via, see here for more quirky and fun designs from designer Shinyoung Ma.

green

Images via Yanko Design. The Current Cart by Kitae Pak and Inyong Jung is designed to turn shopping carts into electricity-generating mobile units. Their hope is that shoppers can power the stores in which they shop by the very act of wandering around the store and shopping. There are still a few details that need to be worked out, but still a neat idea... To find out more, see the full story on TreeHugger.

The game crack for the day is the very, very addictive perfect balance 2.0 game (which is also now available on the iPhone and iPod touch).

Linear Road Town

2009-12-08T15:48:00.001-06:00

Linear "Road town" proposed in 1910 is still a neat and somewhat appealing idea. But it does remind me somewhat of a cruise ship...

"It is linear city housing a thousand people per mile is surrounded by farmland, so people can move along its length to get things that are made elsewhere, but one need only go perpendicular to the town to find (or grow) food. Bountiful electric power will make it all possible."
More about all that here.
Or you can read the entire proposal here on Google, or below.

International Robot Ehibit 2009

2009-12-08T11:19:00.003-06:00

Figla exhibited an interactive robot (prototype) with remote camera.
Via.
IREX 2009.

Wrong-Eyed Jesus

2009-12-07T23:23:00.002-06:00

Official cite.
Via.

Robot flash drives

2009-12-06T12:05:00.004-06:00

Robot usb memory sticks:

Avail. ($25 1GB)

the water issue

2009-12-04T16:52:00.010-06:00

Videos:

via.

See WaterFarms.org.

PHOTOS:
from Xindaan's photostream on Flickr

Mühlensee, Germany

Gullfoss, Iceland

In other news... You are drinking poop.
"In the last three years alone, more than 9,400 of the nation's 25,000 sewage systems—including those in major cities—have reported violating the law by dumping untreated or partly treated human waste, chemicals and other hazardous materials into rivers and lakes and elsewhere, according to data from state environmental agencies and the Environmental Protection Agency."
Charles Duhigg talking about toxic waters on WNYC radio.

THING I WANT:
Built for two, SpaBerry portable hot tub has simple construction and easy break-down. You can customize your own online. They're also super cute. You can even upload your own image for its design. The drawback is the price tag: $5000.

via.

Also see the less expensive ($3000) Soft Tub.

In an older post here on GfL, I mentioned a $160 camera for taking time-lapsed shots of flowers. IF I were willing to pay $160, this is one more idea that I have for it.

New(ish) art site

2009-09-28T21:35:00.002-05:00

Plugged Art is a fairly new art site with some interesting goings-on in today's art scene. Check it out. (And I added it to "Friends of GFL" if you'd be interested in visiting it later)

Fantastic photography

2009-09-22T11:24:00.002-05:00

Melanie Einzig is one of my favorite photographers.

blog of New York photographers

More Melanie Einzig (includes USA and

even more Melanie Einzig (includes wedding and events)

recursive biology

2009-08-22T15:34:00.003-05:00

Alan Turing, who is famous for the Turing test, which is an objective and very famous test for artificial intelligence, also did some work on pattern recognition... but not in computer science... it was in biology...

Read about Turing patterns (which violate the principle of entropy here).

And this brings me to the concept of Mendelbrot's fractals, which are found all over nature. They are infinitely repetitive. Each corner and curve is repeated down to infinity. Here is a video. Notice that each time the camera zooms, the same pattern appears. Another anti-entropic concept.

And that one reminds me of this blast from the past:

THING I WANT: barnacle storage pods.

Oh the puns...

2009-08-20T11:02:00.002-05:00

flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="364">
"Financial chairman"
Via.

Ladybugs, ink on the walls, 70s pictures, blueprints and 9

2009-07-30T16:12:00.005-05:00

Ladybug infestation:

Via.

ink calendar spreads ink across your wall.
Via.

Trailer of the new animated movie 9, which is coming out September 9th and looks pretty good.

Blueprint art.

Interesting (possibly disturbing) 70s-looking photography that has definite reference to pulp fiction and the like.

I'm going to Rotterdam until Tuesday evening.

2009-07-26T07:01:00.005-05:00

I'm going to Rotterdam until Tuesday for the Society for Text and Discourse's annual meeting. I'm looking forward to meeting Herbert Clark and Danielle McNamera, along with seeing talks by Jean Fox Tree, Rick Dale, Dale Barr, Adrian Bangerter, Art Graesser, and Michael Schober... among others. I might not be posting for a couple of days. I leave you with these random technologies and crafts.

Here's a robot you can make out of paper or cardboard:

Visit this blog entry for a downloadable template.

And here's a robot kitchen timer. She lets you know that the time's up by moving her head and playing a samba tune.

It's available on Ebay for almost $40 in BIN after shipping, or you could take your chances and bid on it. It's cute, but probably worth about the price of shipping if you ask me. I'm just sayin'.

Here's a rotating rock climbing wall:

It senses where you are with lasers and rotates (or stops rotating) depending on your movement as you climb it. there's a video here.

There's a whiskered robot rat at the University of Bristol. Also see my previous post about the University of Bristol's robot Jules.

Free stuff and things to make from Orange.

2009-07-25T16:55:00.007-05:00

I just found all kinds of neat things on the How about Orange blog.

1. First off, there is a feature on these paper toys:
The templates to make these yourself are at Marshall Alexander's website.

2. Then there are these cute little mice:

The directions to make your own pair are available (and free) here, at SewingStars.com.

3. A video tutorial on how to create your own carved stamp from Geninne's Art Blog. I think it is good to skip around the video. You probably don't want to sit through the whole thing, but it is kind of neat to skip around and see the steps. More of Geninne's tutorial is on her blog here.

Geninne also has an Etsy shop. See how great her stuff is? She was a featured seller on Etsy recently.

4. Picture frame silkscreening (with free templates!) from Martha Stewart.

5. Free wallpapers for your computer like the ones pictured below.

These and more are available for free download at the Kindred site.

As I mentioned above, all of these are via How About Orange. She's also got a tutorial on how to mod podge a paper bowl, links to free greeting card and thank you card downloads, printable gift tags, customizable and super neat business card .pdf downloads, instructions on how to make a basket from newspapers or magazines (plus how to decorate them with paper flowers). It's a nice blog. I've pretty much shared all my favorites from it here, but you might want to visit it yourself in case you like some things I've left out!

Texas star party.

2009-07-25T12:43:00.003-05:00

In an older post here on GfL, I mentioned a $160 camera for taking time-lapsed shots of flowers. IF I were willing to pay $160, this is one more idea that I have for it.

LIST: HANNSpree TVs.

2009-07-25T12:35:00.003-05:00

Plush TV.

Rhino TV.

HANNSMilano handbag TV.

ugly TV.

TV based on cello.

TV based on bugs and plants.

Fries TV.

Boombox TV.

They also have TVs for every sport. This one is for the NY Yankies; it has the emblem on the back.

They also have laptops and computer monitors, which I was somewhat surprised about. All of their monitors and laptops are completely normal looking, and have absolutely no quirky themes whatsoever. Go figure.
Via & via & via & via & via.

Amanita muscaria is a mushroom.

2009-07-25T12:29:00.002-05:00

In an older post here on GfL, I mentioned a $160 camera for taking time-lapsed shots of flowers. IF I were willing to pay $160, this is one idea that I have for it. It's pretty similar to the actual intended use of the camera, except that a mushroom is a little different from a flower.

The Amanita muscaria is a mushroom best known for their distinctive appearance with bright reds and yellows with white spots.
Via the Presurfer.

Escalator skiing.

2009-07-25T11:55:00.001-05:00

Miming lessons.

2009-07-25T10:53:00.002-05:00

Amsterdam, here we come!

2009-07-25T10:18:00.003-05:00

Next week, Wes and I are going to Amsterdam for the annual Cognitive Science Society conference. Interestingly enough, I saw this video on a blog I read out of Tokyo. After the conference in Amsterdam, we'll be off to Germany to move back to the United States. I thought it would be nice to include another little homage to the Dutch culture here on my blog before leaving. Plus it's a pretty cool video about a pretty cool city.

I can't say that I've noticed most people there wearing Nikes though.

music Espanol. Joe Crepúsculo.

2009-07-24T05:51:00.003-05:00

Free, legal download here.

Solar powered robot bug

2009-07-24T05:42:00.003-05:00

Avail. ~ $10 at Amazon. They also have a solar racing car.

a dirtbuggy that can be driven by the blind:

2009-07-24T05:42:00.001-05:00

The specially equipped dirt buggy uses laser range finders, an instant voice command interface and a few other related systems that enable drivers to respond to whatever the vehicle "sees."
Via.

Free music remix: Double Dutch

2009-07-24T05:30:00.006-05:00

I know some of my readers will be turned off immediately just from that title that includes the word remix. If that includes you, you might stop reading here. If that doesn't include you, you might be interested in this free and yes, legal download.
You can listen or download (file Size: 66.12MB) the long mp3. It's DJ Gun$ Garcia’s Double Dutch Mega Mix. I share it with you in honor of my and Wes' last week here in Holland.

Enjoy!
(Via).
You might also like this.

On that note... #8

2009-07-21T04:22:00.001-05:00

More Links:
Stuff to Watch found via. If you're in the mood to watch videos, that via link's July 10 post has a good playlist including music and other internet videos from that week.

Another neat site found through WeHeartStuff. music, video, art. downloads etc.

On that note... #7

2009-07-21T04:20:00.000-05:00

On that note... #6

2009-07-21T04:16:00.001-05:00

Entertainment placemats

Via HolyCool.net.

On that note... #5

2009-07-21T04:13:00.002-05:00

Robot dances to Spoon.

Via & via.

More links:
Top 10 science music videos.

On that note... #4

2009-07-21T04:12:00.002-05:00

What they thought in 1985:

Via.

On that note... #3

2009-07-21T04:12:00.001-05:00

Movie:

Opening next month.
Via.

On that note... #2

2009-07-21T04:10:00.001-05:00

Make a tic tac toe music box to annoy your friends.

Via.

On that note... #1

2009-07-21T04:06:00.002-05:00

Play me, I'm yours!

Yikes! Bikes! (and other forms of mobility) #6

2009-07-20T09:29:00.002-05:00

today's robot:
The Dustbot: Roomba's big brother

a robot that travels around the narrow streets of Europe and collects trash
Video on Engaget.
Via & via.

More links:
Airbags for airlines will be required (and expensive)... Or maybe passengers won't have to pay for the airbags afterall.

Build your own bike at urban outfitters. Via.

Shoes made from recycled materials

Avail. ~ $100.
Via.

Yikes! Bikes! (and other forms of mobility) #5

2009-07-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

In an older post here on GfL, I mentioned a $160 camera for taking time-lapsed shots of flowers. IF I were willing to pay $160, this is one idea that I have for it.

Yikes! Bikes! (and other forms of mobility) #4

2009-07-20T09:27:00.000-05:00

In other news... a moth driving a vehicle with its mind.

"Ryohei Kanzaki, a professor at Tokyo University's Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology, has studied insect brains for three decades and become a pioneer in the field of insect-machine hybrids... Kanzaki hopes to artificially recreate insect brains."
Via & via.

Yikes! Bikes! (and other forms of mobility) #3

2009-07-20T09:26:00.001-05:00

PHOTOS
Robot bike, only 1,000,000 yen.

Via.
And here's a robot that can ride motorcycles. It would be interesting to put the two robots together...

Yikes! Bikes! (and other forms of mobility) #2

2009-07-20T09:25:00.000-05:00

PHOTOS
Family bike:

Via.

Yikes! Bikes! (and other forms of mobility) #1

2009-07-19T17:05:00.004-05:00

VIDEO
Biking and a neck tattoo.

Via.

Neat hotels.

2009-07-19T12:38:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to some really neat hotels around the world.

An odd toy.

2009-07-19T09:17:00.002-05:00

It's about 30 bucks, and available here.

.

Sweet: a buffer for pit sweat

2009-07-19T08:10:00.002-05:00

Via.

Keeping cool #6.

2009-07-19T05:50:00.002-05:00

I don't know how these people got this video. When we went there, they didn't allow cameras. You could buy a cheesey picture they took of you for too much money though if you wanted. But we snuck some pictures when the bartender ran in the back to get something. Anyway, they have Ice Bars all over Europe (not sure about the U.S., but I'd be surprised if there isn't one in at least Vegas).

This is the picture we took of our friends who were visiting from the states.

Keeping cool #5.

2009-07-19T05:44:00.000-05:00

PHOTOS
Snipers protecting penguins from foxes.

Via.

Ice carriage

Via.

Keeping cool #4.

2009-07-19T05:42:00.002-05:00

Barely anyone can go up this hill.

More funny videos like the "Icy Hill" at Heavy.com

Keeping cool #3.

2009-07-19T05:42:00.001-05:00

Schmancy's fiber arctic collection.

Keeping cool #2.

2009-07-19T05:41:00.002-05:00

VIDEO
Bad weather in Antartica:

Another great find via Neatorama.com! I highly recommend clicking that link and checking out the other videos on that issue, "Fun with Low Temperatures." There is also a melting bbq pit, making sorbet with liquid Nitrogen, and more.

Keeping cool #1.

2009-07-19T05:40:00.003-05:00

Ice shot glasses.

This is what your drinks are served in when you go to the Ice Bar that I mention in "Keeping cool #6."
Not a bad price at $6.99. Avail.

More links:
Unusual and creative ice cube trays.

Also see LifeHacker.com's series about how to "Beat the Heat"

Tesla electric current music

2009-07-18T17:44:00.002-05:00

(You have to click the little play triangle, not the big screen to keep from getting re-routed to the break.com site.)Via. Watch at least up to the Mario Brothers.

Texas Ranger

2009-07-18T17:30:00.000-05:00

All-in-one computer.

2009-07-18T15:21:00.001-05:00

$799. Read about it here.

Monkeys water ski.

2009-07-18T15:18:00.002-05:00

Via.

Stitch Wars exhibit in Florida.

2009-07-18T13:58:00.006-05:00

Stitch Wars in Lauderhill (which is close to Fort Lauderdale), Florida @ Bear and Bird Boutique and Gallery. Via.

(by House of Mouse)

by Follow the White Rabbit.

The upcoming event was also featured in Maxim's August issue and the Miami New Times, which features a slideshow. And there's a stitchwars blog. Also see the SuperPunch post about Star Wars plushes, which has a lot of pictures, information, and links.

***Update: You can buy the Stitch Wars exhibition items here.

2009-07-18T13:29:00.003-05:00

Do not call in. This was previously recorded.

Free poster for those in Britain.

2009-07-18T13:26:00.003-05:00

Get this poster for free if you live in the UK.

You can also buy it at that link, and if you choose that option, it won't have the folds in it :)

Ewie gooie.

2009-07-18T13:23:00.000-05:00

Biological goo on Alaskan coast.

I want to live in a Chinese kite.

2009-07-18T12:22:00.000-05:00

I love the Eames. I think I got this photo from the Library of Congress last time I was in D.C., but that link has some interesting stuff about their abode. Charles and Ray Eames designed the home to be an adumbration of a Chinese kite.

Making and saving faces.

2009-07-17T16:39:00.005-05:00

VIDEO
Hollow face illusion

Via with explanation of how that works--apparently, it doesn't have to be a virtual image like the one in this video. It could also be a mask or a cast of a face. Pretty neat-o.

This is an art film about another "hollow face," but this one wants to look like real faces it sees on TV. I'm sure I don't need to clarify this, but this robot is fictional.

When I saw that art film above, I instantly thought of this new robot named Einstein. Before I get to him, I thought I'd give some history about one of his predecessors. Meet Jules. Jules is a real-world example of a robot who has been programmed (at the University of Bristol) with human-like facial expressions. The researchers had a person make 10 facial expressions and then artists came in to shape the bot's face accordingly (so it made the same 10 expressions as the actors). Now, when the bot is programmed with a certain intonation or expression, its face will also display the feature.

See BotJunkie for an article and other videos about Jules. See the University of Bristol's Robotics Laboratory for a more in-depth look (also featuring a video).

And I found this one of Jules on YouTube. Apparently, the trip to Europe didn't bode so well and the bot got bitter... (And I'm joking if anyone would take that seriously. As someone who works in AI, I am sure that this kind of behavior really coming from a robot is a long way off. Jules does not have feelings and is not a threat to his researchers or other humans. I promise.) The video is cute and amusing though.

And here's the Einstein one. It is more recent and has actually 'learned' how to make facial expressions from looking at people using facial detection software. (also not a threat though, I promise)

Via & via & via & via.
There are also computers and avatars who have recently learned how to use sign language from watching television. Here, you can see a video of how the computer learned.

PHOTOS of the Einstein bot.

This photo is the creepiest if you ask me. Seeing the wires makes the uncanny valley between the synthetic and biological deeper for me for some reason...

More links:
Here's one about making faces with yarn: Jo Hamilton can crochet your portrait from a photo.

Via.

More links... to add to the lighter side of life after all of this science talk, I've got a couple of humorous links about "saving face"...

Videos of politicians having trouble with bodily functions.

A slideshow of 10 funny-named tourist destinations.

There are two towns named "Dildo". I can just imagine some poor guy trying to pick up a girl at a bar.
-Where are you from?
-Dildo.
-Gosh, I was just trying to be friendly!

And this one is kind of a stretch, I know, and please excuse the bad pun, but humor me. I have to post this news. Fox is going to need to save some face if it is true that they are recasting for the new Futurama episodes. Via.

Ah, romance.

2009-07-17T14:31:00.008-05:00

VIDEO:

Fabrizio de Andrè Verranno "a chiederti del nostro amore"
(I did the best I could to translate the lyrics. If anyone notices flaws, please comment and correct!) It reminds me of an Italian Leonard Cohen.

When standing before your wonder and stupor,
they'll come asking about our love--
those people who are wasted in making other people listen to them--
a love so long... You can't give it to them quickly.

Do not open your lips in a congestion of words,
lips restraining the fantasy of a love,
a love that was so safe--a refuge in the "always"
that is now they hypocrisy of "never",

I could not change you.
You didn't change me, you know.

And behind the microphones, they'll give you a mirror
that makes you see yourself in the most beautiful regalia,
and me as already aged.
You'll show them a face that you didn't wear with me.
They'll be astonished that you weren't enough for me.

Well tell them that I threw the power from my hands--
the love was so immature I left scratches on its breasts.
To return to the caress of love would be easy now.

You couldn't change me.
I didn't change you, you know.

Tell them that they always gave me back your eyes
like flowers given in May and given back in November.
Your eyes were empty--anyone could occupy their time--
for three years, your eyes were for others.

By then, you would scour beaches for coral
or throw yourself into an act with an anchor around your neck.
You became too tired to be ashamed
to confess our similarity; that we had become identical.

They managed to change us.
They managed to, you know.

But without the others knowing it,
tell me, unscripted: tell me how do you feel?
You'll continue to love yourself so much that you'll want to give yourself a ring.
You'll love for the sake of love or to have it granted.

You'll go live with Alice, who makes her own whiskey by distilling flowers
or with a Casanova who promises to introduce you to his parents
or you'll simply stay wherever there is someone there
without wondering why.

You'll continue being chosen
or you'll finally choose.

Via.

Inter-species romance:

Via.

PHOTOS

Work by Chad Kouri.
Via.

In other news...
In Lithuania, is is now illegal for media and schools to spread information that "agitates for homosexual, bisexual relations, or polygamy."
Via.

Amserdam says, "We're ALL GAY! in an effort to boost tourism. Also see Amsterdam seeks to reclaim 'Gay Capital' crown, Amsterdam to pay NY gays to get hitched, and the campaign sight Everyone's Gay in Amsterdam. As someone who lives in Holland and frequents Amsterdam, I assure you it isn't true. But it wouldn't really matter to me if it were true. I just think the campaign is amusing for some reason.

In an older post here on GfL, I mentioned a $160 camera for taking time-lapsed shots of flowers. IF I were willing to pay $160, here are a couple of ideas I have for what I would do with it.

Niagara Falls in Motion from Matthew Wartman.

(the squirrels always visit these peoples' house, so they set up a video camera and various types of toys with food in them) There is a live feed of the squirrels in all kinds of situations. This one is the dating game, but there's also one of Harry Potter, of squirrels stealing booty from pirates, and other ridiculous videos. Via.

today's girly robot:
Love robot video.

loVE RobOT (iyaDedE/Blessoill/Charlemagne graphix) from Iya Dede

MJ flash mob in Sweden Beat It.

2009-07-17T08:56:00.000-05:00

Michael Jackson flash mob in sweden @ Yahoo! Video

Space: Outerspace, Physical Space, and Cyberspace.

2009-07-16T07:09:00.010-05:00

OUTERSPACE:
Neat astronomy pictures.

Milky Way Falling

Star Trails New Norcia

The Rho Opuichus Complex

The Lagoon Nebula & The Trifid Nebula

The Tarantula Nebula & The Large Magellanic Cloud

Corona Australis

The Seven Sisters

Via & via.

An alien juicer.

Available here for $14.95 (plus shipping).
Via & via.

today's robot:
Wall-E posters

Game crack for the day.

SPACES AND PLACES IN THE WORLD:

More from Fernando Vicente here.
Via.

12 Green hostels in North America.

Best View: Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, Pescadero, California. It's in a lighthouse, it's got a hot tub with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. It's got whale watching, tide-pooling opportunities, redwood forests, a bird sanctuary, and an elephant-seal breeding area. It is green because of the low-flow showerheads, propane furnace to conserve heating efficiency up to 90%, energy efficient mercury-free lights, Energy star appliances etc etc. You have to hang-dry your clothes.

Best Active Urban Vacation: Hostelling International-Austin, Austin, Texas. Hiking and biking trails within the Austin Greenbelt start right outside the door, where the Colorado River runs by, rent a canoe, a bus ride away from all the music, film, etc. of Austin. Completely powered by sun and wind. They don't water their lawn. Ever.

A common area for eating and relaxing. Photo via HI-Austin.

Best Art Hostel: Auberge Alternative, Montreal, Canada. Use local products and eco-friendly cleaners. Stay includes organic breakfast and organic fair-trade coffee. "There is no coke/pepsi machine, no vending machines, no TV and there never will be," they promise.

The communal kitchen. Photo via Auberge Alternative.

Best Hostel with a Green Roof: Portland Hawthorne Hostel, Portland, Oregon. The Oregon hostel buys in bulk, uses scent-free laundry detergent and eco-friendly cleaning supplies, etc. Discount to guests who arrive on bikes.

The green roof, in progress and installed. Photos via Portland Hawthorne Hostel

Most Relaxing Hostel: Yosemite Bug Rustic Mountain Resort, Midpines, California. Basic beds, hot tub on the deck, overlooking Bear Creek Canyon (just $10 for all-day access), spa with herbal baths and scrubs, massage and yoga, cafe stocked with their own organic compost. A nearby swimming hole and walking trails provide convenient diversions, while more ambitious explorers can find a world of outdoor activities in California's famous Yosemite National Park, just 25 miles away.

Private cabins outside the main lodge. Photo via Yosemite Bug.

Best Recycling Program: Hedonisia Hawaii, Big Island, Hawaii. The location's a former car junkyard. Organic farm where visitors can volunteer for cheaper room and board. Most facilities are built from scavenged, donated, and recycled materials. Theyrent bikes, and use eco-friendly laundry soap.

The hostel's recycling facility (left) and a private hut made in part out of found lumber and refurbished metal roofing. Photos via Hedonisia Hawaii.

Best Sightseeing Base: Hostelling International's DC location, Washington, D.C. Just eight blocks from the White House and all the famous monuments and museums on the National Mall. The world's first hostel to be Energy Star-certified, recycles everything, has low-flow aerators on its faucets and showerheads, and they screen environmental documentaries at monthly movie nights.

Best Active Outdoor Vacation: Girdwood Backpackers Inn, Girdwood, Alaska. Hiking, biking, kayaking, rafting, skiing, and fishing opportunities, and glaciers and wildlife are just a stone's throw away. Recycled materials for the rooftop, salvaged lumber for the counter-tops, energy-efficient lighting, sell fresh veggies from farmer's market.

The new lodge. Photo via Girdwood Alaska Backpackers Inn.

Most Unusual: Gus the Baja Beach Bus, BajaTrek, Baja California, Mexico. This "carbon-neutral hostel on wheels" runs on 100 percent recycled veggie oil donated by local restaurants and takes intrepid travelers to explore the Baja California mountains and beaches. Sign up and you'll visit wineries and watch whales. Travel around in the bus and stay on campgrounds or at hostels on the way.

Gus and guests in Baja. Photos via BajaTrek.

Most Harmonious with Nature: Abram's Creek Lodge, Mt. Storm, West Virginia. Dorm-style accommodations and a family campground with an organic garden. No chemicals, pesticides, or environmentally damaging products of any kind are used on the grounds or in the buildings.Diligent down to the last detail. They run workshops on botany and wilderness-survival skills.

The lodge house. Photo via Abram's Creek.

Best Educational Opportunities: Shadowcliff, Grand Lake, Colorado. Regular nature and conservation lectures, interpretive hikes, and visits from rangers and naturalists at nearby Rocky Mountain National Park. The hostel uses compact-fluorescent light bulbs and solar-powered lights, actively recycles, and composts yard waste.

The view from, and of, the lodge. Photos via Shadowcliff.

Truth in Advertising Award: HI-Montreal, Montreal, Canada. "We are light green, but we'll do better." The hostel's attempts to go green "slowly but surely" include using new ecological and biodegradable cleaning products, swapping regular light bulbs out for CFLs, installing recycling bins on each floor and in all common areas, looking for green suppliers, and offering guests information on public transportation and carpooling -- and reusable grocery bags to take shopping.

Via.

Free shipping at Rick Steves travel store this weekend.

Slideshow: Guide to hidden flight fees.

Slideshow: Open living spaces.

CYBERSPACE:
Quotes about Twitter:

"oh this is going to be addictive" - Dom Sagolla, Twitter co-creator
“The qualities that make Twitter seem inane and half-baked are what makes it so powerful” - Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard law professor and Internet expert
“Twitter lets me hear from a lot of people in a very short period of time.” - Robert Scoble, blogger
“Using Twitter for literate communication is about as likely as firing up a CB radio and hearing some guy recite ‘The Iliad.’" - Bruce Sterling, science fiction writer and journalist
"Whoever said that things have to be useful?"- Evan Williams, Twitter co-founder and CEO
"For the uninitiated, here’s how Twitter works - I have no f***ing idea. I have no idea how it works - or why it is." Jon Stewart, comedian and host of The Daily Show
"Facebook is to 2007 as Twitter is to 2009. It’s the most open communication platform out there" - Roger Kondrat, social media consultant
"The people drawn to Twitter are people on the cutting edge, the real nerds who are resentful of the fact that the general population have found and taken over Facebook" - Steve Dotto, host of Dotto Tech
"HI TWITTERS . THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY" - Oprah, yes that Oprah, on Twitter
"Ummm . . . I don’t think it’s as big of a dilemma as people seem to think. We haven’t focused on it yet and I can’t say for sure how it’s going to work." - Evan Williams, Twitter co-founder and CEO, on how Twitter will make money

Via.

I've seen this on the internet a lot this week. It's a usb credit card swiper. It'll set you back about $100.

The thing is, our Dutch bank gave us basically the same thing for free. Except the one our bank gave us also generates a new passcode each time we log on to our bank's website. Any money transfer requires us to swipe our bank cards.

But, it's not exactly the same thing. Ours is not used at retail sites, only at the bank site. But still. We have to have it to do our online banking. American swiper via, via, & via.

A new laptop.

Compact, lightweight, four colors: Orange, Midnight Blue, Mint Blue and Black, 10-hour battery, a 3-in-1 memory card reader, 3 x USB 2.0 ports and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 2.7 pounds, scratch resistant display, 1.3-megapixel webcam, WiFi, Bluetooth, Atom N270, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 resolution, $449 at Newegg. They also have it at BestBuy. (Somewhat relatedly, this one has an alien theme and is a shade of pink is also pretty cool, but a lot more expensive.)
Via.

More links:
Facebook says that you said they could whore out your photos in ads.

An iPhone ap that tells you which fruits and veggies are in season wherever you happen to be.

Free blog backgrounds.

A new social networking site for academics MyExperiment might make academic papers obsolete, according to Pysorg.com. Via.

pets and other animals

2009-07-16T05:15:00.006-05:00

VIDEOS

Ducks climb the down escalator.

Via.

Pug pushing stroller.

Via.

Even if you've seen this one before, watch it again. It's still funny.

PHOTOS
Robot pet

Overpriced for $12.59 with an extra $8 shipping on Ebay.

Random

Via.

LIST:
Pets who want to kill themselves
...From the Pets Who want to Kill Themselves blog.
Here are some of my favorites from the site,
but you might want to visit it yourself.
There are definitely some good ones I didn't include.

And this one from Best Week Ever:

THING I WANT:
I would get this if my cat ever liked things like it:

Available at ThinkGeek.
They also have a helicopter and firetruck version.

My husband thinks this is ridiculous, but I think it's great.

It's a mouse trap.
Wes thinks it's like mouse house. But I think it's better than having dead rats lying around the house! Maybe a pet cat is the best solution, but then you still sometimes have to sweep up the dead mice, which is gross. Anyway, if you agree with me that this is a good solution, it's available at PETA for only $11, and it's reusable. I hate to say this, but if you have a snake, this might also be convenient for collecting snake food.

today's robot
isn't too girly, but they do say that green is the new pink.

It's about $150 if you get a deal, like at Toys R Us.
You can also visit the Pleo World webpage.

a slideshow of
How to make your own cat toy

or, you can probably just dangle a pen tied to a string...
This one will look better sitting around the living room though.
Click here to download a .pdf of the instructions.
Courtesy of moomah, a creative arts cafe in tribeca, manhattan.
Via design sponge.

More links:

MIT and New Scientist team up by tagging your trash to go green.

Robotic bats might be spying on you at night.

Apollo 11 tapes were accidentally erased.

Game crack for the day:

(picture from Flickr)

Towns & games based on movies, make your own a/c

2009-07-15T10:11:00.004-05:00

VIDEO
Vulcan, Canada:

In Vulcan, there's a town that has been capitalizing off of Star Trek for about half a century.
I just wish they had a town like that for Star Wars and Dr. Who and Torchwood and Futurama and Twin Peaks and Back to the Future and LOST etc... Oahu's got the Kualoa Ranch, where Jurassic Park and LOST among others were filmed, but it's definitely not the same as having an entire town themed towards a sci-fi cult classic. There's one in Washington for the movie Twighlight (see below).
Via & via.

PHOTOS

No-vampire zone in Forks, WA.

The Forks folks are torn about whether or not they like the publicity.
While some don't like the attention Twilight has brought, others are enjoying the kudos.
From the article, Forks' Cook says that "traditionally, Forks has been considered by Seattle folks as the sticks, the home of loggers and simple rural ways. Now it's a bit of a status symbol."
Via & Neatorama.

Zombie T-shirt.

Via. Oh, and it's free in San Diego.

Random.

In other news...
Drunk German guy caught in drain because of beer belly.

Via.

LIST
7 old school movie-themed toys that could have been better. Bill & Ted's, Willow, Jurassic Park make the list.

THING I WANT:
Wood stacking robots

Available on Amazon for $11.70.

today's girly robot:

Via Flickr. It was spotted in Brooklyn.

More links:

Facebook taking on Google?

Build your own a/c.

Dandelions are good for you. Make your own home remedies.

Green mail, but less of it (at least for chemists)

US postal service, Chemistry journals going green.

Game crack for the day.
Make those red shapes happy again!

Via RandomGoodStuff.com.

2009-07-14T19:08:00.005-05:00

An oldie but goodie:

Facebook is crack for the retarded.

I know, I know. My blog has become my new obsession. I'm writing 3 papers right now. One is on differences in media for different types of communication, hopefully to become a book chapter in the proceedings of the conference I went to in Dublin earlier this year. One is really giving me a headache; it's about the different domains within artificial intelligence (hence all of my robot obsession as-of-late). This is probably the most important one because it is exactly why we've been here in Holland. It will be the product of my project here. The other one is for an experiment I will be doing in the future with Istvan Berkeley at ULL, also related to AI. These papers are driving me crazy, so I started procrastinating on Facebook while I wasn't looking up stuff about AI and robots online. (I'm sure you know that papers like that will need to have really up-to-date citations, especially in the world of technology, every day there's something crazy and new out there.) So I was posting all these links on Facebook. And I always forget how broad the Facebook audience is. It could be anyone. I guess my blog is like that too, but at least you took the time to come here. I know I'm not spamming you. If I post this many links everyday on FB, it might drive folks nuts. That's not what I want to do. Not that I need a justification for blogging a lot, but I thought a back-story might be a cool thing to have. To explain the sudden and drastic change in my blogging behavior.

How to make your own pocket scroll.

Via.

Evolution of Michael Jackson:

Via & SuperPunch.

In other news, the only SlimJim factory exploded.

I especially like this person's response: "Is there no God? First the recession, then our Slim Jims. Expect total mayhem as seemingly normal people come to grips w/ this crises. Obama will have to do something."
Via.

A second hand clothing store in Bondi, Australia is giving a 20% discount to anyone who can moonwalk, properly.
Via.

Off makes belt holster:

But it doesn't work so well apparently. And even if it makes you feel like a cowboy, there is no way it could possibly be as fun as our new vliegenvangers.
Via.

4 minute chocolate mouse recipe:

I haven't tried it, but look at it! I will make that when I get home for sure.
The recipe is here.
Via.

A shop in Tokyo.

I especially like the hanging cat thing.

LIST:
Unofficial Guitar Hero 5 features Matt Bellamy of Muse, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain, & Shirley Manson.
Track List:
* 3 Doors Down - "Kryptonite"
* A Perfect Circle - "Judith"
* AFI - "Medicate"
* Arctic Monkeys - "Brianstorm"
* Attack! Attack! UK - "You and Me"
* Band Of Horses - "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands"
* Beastie Boys - "Gratitude"
* Beck - "Gamma Ray"
* Billy Idol - "Dancing with Myself"
* Billy Squier - "Lonely is the Night"
* Blink-182 - "The Rock Show"
* Blur - "Song 2"
* Bob Dylan - "All Along the Watchtower"
* Bon Jovi - "You Give Love A Bad Name"
* Brand New - "Sowing Season"
* Bush - "Comedown"
* Children Of Bodom - "Done With Everything, Die For Nothing"
* Coldplay - "In My Place"
* Darker My Love - "Blue Day"
* Darkest Hour - "Demon(s)"
* David Bowie - "Fame"
* Deep Purple - "Woman From Tokyo ('99 Remix)"
* Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing"
* Duran Duran - "Hungry Like The Wolf"
* Eagles Of Death Metal - "Wannabe in L.A."
* Elliott Smith - "L.A."
* Elton John - "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting"
* Face To Face - "Disconnected"
* Garbage - "Only Happy When It Rains"
* Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc."
* Gov't Mule - "Streamline Woman"
* Grand Funk Railroad - "We're an American Band"
* Iggy Pop - "Lust For Life"
* Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes to Midnight"
* Jeff Beck - "Scatterbrain"
* Jimmy Eat World - "Bleed American"
* John Mellencamp - "Hurts So Good"
* Johnny Cash - "Ring of Fire"
* Kaiser Chiefs - "Never Miss a Beat"
* King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man"
* Kings Of Leon - "Sex on Fire"
* Kiss - "Shout it Out Loud"
* Love and Rockets - "Mirror People"
* Megadeth - "Sweating Bullets"
* Mötley Crüe - "Looks That Kill"
* Muse - "Plug in Baby"
* My Morning Jacket - "One Big Holiday"
* Nirvana - "Lithium"
* Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
* No Doubt - "Ex-Girlfriend"
* Peter Frampton - "Do You Feel Like We Do (Live)"
* Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde - "Bring the Noise 20xx"
* Queen & David Bowie - "Under Pressure"
* Queens Of The Stone Age - "Make it With Chu"
* Rammstein - "Du Hast"
* Rose Hill Drive - "Sneak Out"
* Rush - "The Spirit of Radio (Live, 2008)"
* Santana - "No One To Depend On (Live)"
* Scars On Broadway - "They Say"
* Screaming Trees - "Nearly Lost You"
* Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
* Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"
* Spacehog - "In the Meantime"
* Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
* Sublime - "What I Got"
* Sunny Day Real Estate - "Seven"
* T. Rex - "20th Century Boy"
* The Bronx - "Six Days a Week"
* The Derek Trucks Band - "Younk Funk"
* The Duke Spirit - "Send a Little Love Token"
* The Killers - "All the Pretty Faces"
* The Police - "So Lonely"
* The Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes"
* The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy for the Devil"
* The Sword - "Maiden, Mother & Crone"
* The White Stripes - "Blue Orchid"
* Thin Lizzy - "Jailbreak"
* Thrice - "Deadbolt"
* Tom Petty - "Runnin' Down a Dream"
* Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "American Girl"
* TV On The Radio - "Wolf Like Me"
* Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
* Weezer - "Why Bother?"
* Wild Cherry - "Play That Funky Music"
* Wolfmother - "Back Round"
Via.
(with thanks to Luke).

Today's girly robot:

Cute to boot, and pun-y too. Her name is Polar-roid.
Available on Etsy from Littlebrownbyrd.
(It's currently sold out, but other cute items are available for about $20 with $5 shipping.)

More Links:

Sierra club has a Wiki for trails (in Beta).

It might become easier to avoid those annoying automated menus when you call your cell phone and cable providers or credit card company.

An all-pet airline takes flight.

By enhancing the smell and taste of food with a spray, dieters can eat less.

This is kind of old news, but... Hampton Toyota in Lafayette gets busted rifling through this guy's car and doing other inappropriate things when he had brought it in to get fixed. At the link, you can see one of the videos that was shot when he installed a hidden video camera in his car.

Game crack for the day.

Some strange toy, Bill Cosby Jello Shots, bubbles and a green Exxon and WAL-MART

2009-07-14T12:03:00.006-05:00

This is awesome.
I'm not sure what it is, but I like it.

Things like this come on T-shirts too.
If you visit this site about the art, you can sign up for a snail-mail free newsletter.

Bill Cosby in Jello shots:

Via.
(with video of the making and consumption of the jello shots)

Popping bubbles.

See the Flicker album for more.

And for today's robot fix, 101 robot t-shirts

More Links:

Slideshow of lighthouses.

I like these house decorations.

The most dangerous woman in China is getting attention.

Software to turn your RSS feeds to Pdfs so you can read them like newspapers. Via.

Green Irony:

WAL-MART is going green
by creating a sustainability index of all of the items it stocks.
Via.

Exxon is going green
with algae as biofuel.
Via.

But Trader Joe's is NOT going green
(I guess they're going BLACK)
by selling a bunch of black-listed fish
(and Greenpeace is mad at them).

Make your own Stephen Hawking paper toy

2009-07-14T10:02:00.002-05:00

I found this great blog called Toy a Day.
He's got Michael Jackson, Pokemon, all of the Kiss guys, He Man, Willy Wonka,

Mr. T,

The characters from a Nightmare before Christmas,

And at least a hundred more.
I recommend visiting the blog just to look through each day's toy. It is such a fun project for kids or adults... And who says you'd have to use your template to make a character who looks like someone? I am sure kids will definitely come up with their own amazing creations.

He gives two templates for creating the paper toys.
template 1
template 2
You can also friend the group on Facebook.

Public speaking, more robots, Hello Kitty "shoulder massager," Dubai goes green

2009-07-13T14:29:00.003-05:00

Motorcycle robot.

Full story here.

WTF taxidermy

Apparently, there was a LiveJournal contest for weird Taxidermy items and this is one of the 'winners' from said contest. You can buy some of the items on Ebay.
Via.

From the retail site, I quote: "You can use the Hello Kitty Vibrating Shoulder Massager vibrator to massage away your daily stress. Works great on your neck, shoulders and back, or anywhere."

Sure, "shoulder massager" vibrator.

I love these cards.

Available at Etsy.
Via.

Useful tips on giving a talk (abbreviated version).

Make fun of people in the audience.
Ridicule bogus claims related to your topic.
Incorporate the audience’s experiences into your talk.
Self-deprecate.
Comment on how neurotic the thought-process scientists is.
Use “disciplinary humor.”
Explain your results in an unusually vivid or graphic way.
If you’re using PowerPoint, take full advantage of its comic potential: wild animations, text that pops up on the screen to question or even flat-out contradict that you’re saying, a punchline at the bottom of the slide that only gets revealed when you press a key, etc.
Banter with the crowd: if someone makes a crack at your expense, always respond, and even escalate the interaction into a “staged fight.”
Have high energy!
Pause a few beats before the punchline.
Experiment! If a particular joke bombs, drop it from your rotation; if it brings the house down, recycle it in future talks.
Steal good ideas shamelessly from other speakers. (I mean the humor techniques, not the results.)
Tailor your jokes to the audience’s background.
Make jokes about the country where you’re giving the talk.
Take risks!

See the full version here.

As I said in an older post, I have a new-found infatuation with robots. So here is one of my favorite new discoveries:

From the blue living ideas cite: "WatCleaner is a concept robot that’s designed to float around rivers and lakes and oceans cleaning the water as it goes. It can deal with both bulk garbage (by slurping it down and disintegrating it) and suspended pollution like oil (by absorbing it into collection bladders). It’s even, supposedly, smart enough not to ingest and disintegrate narwhals or porpoises or anything."
Via.

There's an elephant car wash in Oregon.

But they don't guarantee that you will get your car clean with it. Go figure.

I have flown so many times that I seldom pay any attention to the safety videos playing before takeoff. I even thought about it on a recent flight. I've heard the speech so many times about cabin pressure and flotation devices, but do I really remember what you're supposed to do? Well, yes. Probably. Remember to put your mask on first then help others. If you can't breathe, you won't be much help. Something like that. But it seems that the folks at Air New Zealand also thought it would be a good idea to spice up their videos to get their customers to pay attention.

But I'm not sure if they'll hear anything about the safety protocol once they realize that all of the people in the video are completely naked...
Via.

And, of course, the post would not be complete without today's girlie robot.
Today's girlie robot:

Via.

More links:

Dubai going green?

Japan's schools to go solar.

Win a fighting cock robot contest here.

Not for the faint of heart: Sneak peak to gross Animal Planet movie "Monsters Inside Me." (Sorry, in the states you probably have seen commercials for this but we're a little deprived over here.)

Vintage Ghostbusters stickers.

Having baby pictures in your wallet increases liklihood that they will be returned if lost: "The baby photograph wallets had the highest return rate, with 88 per cent of the 40 being sent back. Next came the puppy, the family and the elderly couple, with 53 per cent, 48 and 28 respectively. At 20 per cent and 15, the charity card and control wallets had the lowest return rates." Via.

Prefabs for cold weather.

If Brad and Angelina move to NYC, how will Brad run for Mayor of NOLA?

Man's eye replaced with his tooth (including creepy picture).

Solar night garden, Mr. T Jump drive, watching the flowers grow

2009-07-13T06:07:00.006-05:00

In cooperation with the Israel Electric Corporation, which encourages the use of alternative energy for benefit of our environment, OGE made a Enchanting Solar-powered Night Garden.

Here is a shot of it in the day:

And another night shot:

Via.

What was Manhattan like 400 years ago, before the first settlers arrived? Designed by Abbott Miller, the new exhibition Mannahatta/Manhattan: A Natural History of New York City at the Museum of the City of New York reconstructs the ecology of the small wooded island originally known as Mannahatta (“island of many hills” as the Lenape Indians called it) before it became one of the most densely built places on earth. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

If this weren't so expensive ($45), I would totally buy it.

It's a shark anatomy toy. Maybe for my Godson's birthday, but I doubt that he would like it as much as I do!
Available to purchase here.

This one, I don't care how much it costs, I am totally buying this once we get a home in the U.S.

I wonder if it matters what species of fish you have? You think Betas can do all this?

You know the Slap Chop infomercial? If so, you are just going to LOVE this. I think I am going to have to rip this song so I can listen to it on my iPod.

I love this idea. Instead of giving someone a gag gift, you give them a gag gift BOX.

It's a bacon tuxedo box. You just buy the $5 empty box and put the real gift in it. Much better than the $7 gift boxes you'd buy at Target!
Available for purchase here.
More ridiculous and strange gift ideas here on Kaboodle's top 10 list.

I think I also found this one on Kaboodle. It's a great idea, but I will probably just make one myself next time I know someone going off to college.

It's a college survival kit. It includes a collapsible clothes hamper, book light, reusable poster adhesive, first aid kit, a $5 Domino's Pizza gift certificate, and other miscellaneous items. I bet it would be fun just to come up with the list of things to include in the gift pack! Ear plugs, flip flops for the dorm, a car lighter outlet for the inevitable road trips

I like how they include a first aid kit, screw driver, and eye covers. I think it would be good to also have a hammer, some sticky tack, and maybe one of those McGuyver tools,

maybe not this one, but something like it at least. Oh, and of course some kind of ridiculous USB drive, like maybe this Mr. T doing situps

And yes, he really bends to do the crunches.

College survival kit found here.
Car lighter outlet available here.
McGuyver toppeak tool found here.
Mr. T, Rocky, and Rocky III Apollo Creed USB flash drives here.

A timelapse garden video camera, that will even have your flower give twitter updates. On the site, you can watch one of the flowers go from bud to full bloom. It's neat, but I am not sure if it's worth the whopping $160!

The thing I think of is all of the other things you could tape with it. Like a building being built or something.
Via.

The litterbox for the modern cat:

It has "rooftop access" and reusable litter bags. It doesn't self-clean. It doesn't prevent odor in any special way I see. It is over-priced. I think it isn't even available yet. But it comes in red, so that makes it for the modern cat from what I gather. Don't think I'll be buying one any time soon, but if you want to preorder one, go here.

This is one splurge I am considering, though:

We have tons and tons and tons of old nintendo games. Now there is a hand-held device that will play them. Also see Super Mario Brothers for your TI-84 Graphing Calculator here. The hand-held device is available here.

And in line with my new obsession with robots, I have to conclude this post with a video of a quarky little robot just for girls.

Bossa Nova Penbo from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

And, I have to say that I am pretty sure that dude talking is Dutch. I wonder if that was filmed here?

More links:

Slideshow of the most outrageous hotel concierge requests.

Free software for Windows to create your own mosaic picture.

Pictures of people doing dumb stuff.

Pentagon is making cyborg crickets that will be able to detect survivors in disasters and notify rescuers. Video and full story here.

Top 10 reasons to quit facebook.

A video about artists from all over the world featured in The United Colors of Benneton's Colors Magazine.

Dutch postal service introduces seeded stamps. Via.

All kinds of things...

2009-07-12T11:50:00.007-05:00

Weedrobes made from plants.

Via.

I don't know Italian, but this song is beautiful.

The lyrics are available here.

Here you can see how your country measures up in terms of it's 'carbon footprint,' overall life satisfaction, and life expectancy.

Via.

650-pound virgin loses 410 lbs in about 2 years, and there is a made-for-tv movie coming out about it.

Via (with video clips).

Wes and I went down to a little ice cream shop here in the city center, and they had Arugula ice cream. I thought it was so bizarre, I had to get a sample. Sure enough, it did taste like Arugula. They apparently won a contest at the store for creating the flavor. The guy behind the counter told me that I shouldn't have it on a cone, though. It is made for a kind of ice salad. Go figure. Well, even after having tasted the Arugula ice cream, I am still perplexed by this slideshow of the world's strangest ice creams.

The place that sells this one has over 900 flavors, including tuna flavor!

This one is sometimes eaten with a knife and fork. From the site: "Turkish ice cream, or dondurma, is made with goat’s milk and an ingredient called salep—which translates, literally, to “fox testicle.” In reality, it’s a flour ground from wild orchid tubers, which presumably bear some resemblance to a fox’s family jewels. The resulting cold treat is pretty much an only-in-Turkey delicacy, since the wild orchids technically can’t be exported. You can buy it at cafés and street carts, especially in Istanbul."

This one looks pretty normal, but guess what flavor it is... It ain't vanilla--that is Garlic. See the whole slideshow here.

I love this picture.

Via.

Business lessons acquired from Dungeons and Dragons:
1. Feed the DM. (treat those in power with extra kindness)
2. One spell, used well, can be more powerful than an entire book full of spells.
3. It's better to out-smart an orc than to fight one.
4. "I'm the DM. I'm not there." This is the point of all those tedious "diversity training" exercises from your HR department; perhaps the message would get across better if they talked about the apparently-weak wizard and the bard with those amazing negotiation skills.
5. Simple and internally consistent is more fun than random.
6. You create your own traps.
7. Treasure is not always what you expect it to be.
8. You don't have to read all the books, but a modest description of the beast you are about to face is better than facing a daemon and trying six dozen spells before finding the right one. (If you live that long.)
9. When selecting a weapon or tool, bigger is not always better.
These are just synopses of the good article. Go to the link to read the whole thing.
Via.

This cracks me up; it's a fanny pack for your head:

Buy one here.

And I just can't believe that Harry and Pepper, the famous gay penguin couple are breaking up!

Tron is back as an online sitcom:

Via.

This is also pretty funny. Maybe our kids are getting fatter, but they're also getting trickier: Children taking part in a study to measure how much exercise they do fooled researchers by attaching their pedometers to their pet dogs. Read about the failed study here.

I wish we had more efficient highspeed railways in the U.S.!!! Especially after having lived in Europe, it really hits you how nice it is to 'park and ride'! It seems like having a national railway system would solve a lot of problems. For one, people are afraid of planes, but not as afraid of trains, especially after 9/11. Second, you can always take the train. Fog and rain and snow will not slow down the schedules. Third, (I'm not sure about this one), but I think that they can be more easily produced with "green energy". And, it would create a lot of jobs to have a project like that. After all, that is why our interstates were built.

Via.
Also check out the new London transportation bus that is designed to encourage using public transit.

Giant jellyfish in Japan:

Via.

More links:
Neat architecture art.

Slideshow of world's most spectacular tasting rooms.

Japanese rice paddy crop art.

Science Fiction's greatest legal minds revealed. Yes, Harvey Birdman made the list.