April 2007 Archives
It's earth day tomorrow, so I thought I would simply post some of my favourite images of the earth, as seen from space. Enjoy and click on the images for the full size, if available.
Here are a few environmental links to keep you busy thinking, but first, an interesting article on Beijing and it's attempts to clean up it's image:
-No Spitting on the Road to Olympic Glory, Beijing Says - The New York Times
-A Renewed Push for Ethanol, Without the Corn - The New York Times
-Voices from the ice tell of warming signals - Associated Press
-Ethanol may cause more smog, more deaths - Associated Press
-First climate debate divides UN - BBC News
-No-Fishing Zones in Tropics Yield Fast Payoffs for Reefs - The New York Times
-Climate change around the world - BBC News
Not to bore you (although it is this blog's official mission), I've made a few changes to the site, which should hopefully be unnoticable.
After an internal board meeting, my brain has come to realize that this website doesn't require all that much computing power. This comes after commenting on the wastefulness of my computer fetish and means I've retired the webserver. Instead of a big box, chock full of hot CPUs and lots of hard drives, I'm now using a power-sipping 600Mhz IBM Transnote.
In addition, the FTP has now taken on a much smaller role. I'll be serving only recent albums instead of the much larger collection that was previously made available. This will also mean that the available albums will be updated more often than the previous never.
While watching Frontline World last night, I saw a story on individuals providing interest free loans to the third world. What made this story different, was the way in which they've gone about it. The not-for-profit site run by Kiva (Swahili for agreement/unity), connects people in the western world to those in under developed nations, who are looking to start or expand their own business.
If you head over to Kiva's website, you'll see that the Grey Lady has already been through (is there anywhere that whore hasn't been?) and done a video about the whole enterprise.
Anyway, I hope to join and put my money where my mouth is, by giving to two different projects. When I do jump in, I'll be posting updates and keeping everyone informed about how things are going with the projects that I've chosen. I encourage you to join up as well, since the money that you give, will mean more to it's recipient, than it ever would to you or me.
Once the loan is repaid, it can be put back into another project, over and over again, meaning your gift really does keep on giving.
Wouldn't it be nice if a super-important religious figure died every week, so we could enjoy the mythical three-day week in perpetuity? I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend and thank-you again to baby Jesus.
Evil, I know.
I wouldn't define myself as a follower of sports, but despite this, I've always had a fondness for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I've been charting their progress throughout the season, keeping an eye on the story lines, box scores and watching the occasional game. That said, when you meet a true fan, it makes you realize how non-committal you really are.
I was on my way home from the parents', after spending some time with them over the Easter holiday. Some guy got on the subway at Eglinton and I glanced over at him, as his Leafs Jersey caught my eye. Almost immediately, he struck up a conversation about the Leafs and during the course of our chat, he pulled a photo album out of his bag, which showed him posing with various players, general managers, coaches and TV personalities, like Don Cherry and Ron McLean (on the set of Coach's Corner, no less). While we were riding the subway to Union, he expressed his excitement for the last game of the season and that he was sure they would pull out a win. The team did indeed win their game, but were eliminated from the playoffs, with a win by the Islanders.
Ah zut.
Have you read America's Finest News Source, lately? The Onion continues to delight, maintaining the high standard of journalism excellence previously established with stories like Voice Of God Revealed To Be Cheney On Intercom and the eerily premonitory Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'. This time around, they take a serious story, remove all references to the Iraq war and drop in it's place, President Bush's head in a bannister.
This and other links, below.
-Bush Refuses To Set Timetable For Withdrawal Of Head From White House Banister - The Onion
-Ricky Gervais on Comic Relief 2007 - YouTube
-The Memory Hacker - Popular Science
-The Cult of AV - Audioholics
-MPAA names its Top 25 movie piracy schools - Ars Technica
-Call that humiliation? - Guardian Ulimited
-Air Force turns 'pain gun' on AP reporter - Engadget
For greatest comedic effect, watch the first bit of that last clip again and then recall Lord Attenborough saying "Welcome... To Jurassic Park."
So were you aware that 90% of Americans believe in God? The real kicker? 48% don't believe in the theory of evolution and 34% of college grads accept the biblical account of creation, as fact. For even more interesting/concerning numbers, check out this link.
Here are some very interesting numbers about the worlds' energy, courtesy of Forbes. I found it especially interesting that 99% of Norway's power needs are supplied by hydroelectric power! Talk about a stroke of luck, that they have the geography to pull that off.
Do you remember the movie I Heart Huckabees? You may not have seen it, but here is a disturbing link of the director, David O. Russell, unleashing on Lily Tomlin. This is the same director that George Clooney punched in the face on the set of Three Kings and swore never to work with again.
Did you know that of all the worst road accidents in recorded history, the top two took place in Ontario? Not something to brag about, but the crack team at Forbes once again compiled a list of the worst transportation disasters, to educate us all.
Finally, if you like freakishly large animals as much as I do, be sure to check out this Newsweek slide show, by clicking on the picture at the top of the article.
