"A Smart Garage energy paradigm could simultaneously reduce the environmental impact of both the transport sector and the electricity sector. Driving a vehicle that uses electricity creates fewer greenhouse-gas emissions than driving a vehicle that uses gasoline, even if the electricity is made from fossil fuels (such as coal)."

Adam Savage's talk at The Last HOPE: Fascination with the Dodo Bird
parts:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  A  B  C
(YouTubeFilter with a great audience Q&A session)
Thank you opsin

An open letter to sports columnist Jay Mariotti , who resigned from the Sun-Times and lashed out during a TV interview announcing that newspapers were dead. (via Sports Filter)

Enemy of the State. Wolves in Alaska are gunned down from the air for cash bounties, their orphaned pups often discovered by agency biologists in the field and killed. Alaskans soon vote on proposition 2 to stop the controversial slaughter that serves the interests of large game hunters.

London from above, at night.

The Big Book of Lesbian Horse Stories needs your vote.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year, The Bookseller is pleased to announce the "Diagram of Diagrams" – a public vote to find the oddest book title of the past 30 years.

Direct link to poll page is here. There are only a few days left to do your part for world-wide (literary) democracy!

[slyt] Hug a developer today.

Steve Jobs hangs on.

In the 1950s, American Communists fled to China. The idealists returned home and got book deals. But one pragmatist remained behind.
He also happens to be the only Chinese Jew of note, the others having left for Israel when the going was good.

Previously on MeFi: the POWs who came home.

They're everywhere; languishing on doorsteps, hanging out in the middle of the road, dangling off street signs, peeking out of piles of garbage, reclining in the middle of the sidewalk, riding the bus for free. London Bananas.

Fox, the BBC and CNN have all revealed that Republican US presidential candidate John McCain has picked Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate on his 72nd birthday on the eve of the start of Republican National Convention. Despite being wildly popular in Alaska, Palin has recently been involved in an investigation over whether she dismissed a public safety commissioner because he refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law.

Classic tracks: Can't seem to face up to the facts? Searching for the heart of Heart of Gold? Mix Online delves deep into your favorite jams, to find out what was in the air when they were conceived. Know what I mean? via

Fear and Loathing in Denver, Colorado - August 24-28, 2008.

The Futility of Flogging Music "I was pondering the other day whether I actually have a field of expertise. I thought for ages, and couldn't come up with anything, and then in a blinding flash I realised, with a slight sense of despondency, what it might be: being in bands that people have never heard of." Actually you may have heard of Rhodri Marsden if you're caught the current Scritti Politti line-up in action, if you've ever followed the broadcasts of the late DJ John Peel, or if you've read Rhodri's technology column in UK newspaper the Independent. This week, in a speech to the Oxford Geek Night, Marsden shared his caustic yet heartfelt observations on DIY music from the early 90s through to the digital age, sighing "I can think of nothing more soul destroying" than social networking and quoting post-punk icon of Pere Ubu as saying musicians should "screw the audience".

Rat Sound Systems is the original punk rock sound company. Started in LA in the early 80s, it was a stalwart of the early LA punk scene (posters: it did happen). Starting in the 1990s, Rat Sound has been supplying sound for some of rock's biggest acts. They even went corporate, with a client list including Paris Hilton. Since May 2006, founder Dave Rat, who mixes the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the audience, has been keeping a tour blog.
Those of you who (like me) are interested in audio nerdery may be interested in the Sound nerd speak section of Dave's blog. (e.g. drum fills, subs, input lists, amplifiers, the Grateful Dead's wall of sound)

You may also read about the technical evolution of sound systems, from humble beginning to the Rat Trap 5 cabinet of the 1990s and the L-Acoustics V-DOSC and Microwedge of today. Also of interest: Dave's Roadiepedia.

Friday Flash Fun — Boombot.

Color Is Relative, pretty and interesting eye candy created by Gabriel Mott, is a website dedicated to showing luminosity achieved through simple color combinations. On the site, the image is interactive. By moving the mouse over a single swatch the background color of the page will change to the same color.
Seeing Things: Color is Relative on Facebook.

Gabe's blog, FunkyEnough."In visual perception a color is almost never seen as it really is - as it physically is. This fact makes color the most relative medium in art."-Josef Albers

Video that explains halation and how color is relative.

Juan Epstein is the unaffiliated project of HOT 97 Radio DJ's Peter Rosenberg and Cipha. In this episode they talk with Qtip about how he[YT] got his start. They also interviewed Latarian the Elementary schooler who stole his grandmother's car [YT]
Be sure to check out ther conversations with Murs and Raphael Saadiq(A personal favorite) , The Clipse , Robin Thicke and Pete Rock

Spiegel TV has tracked down rare Nazi TV footage, complete with everything from bizarre cabaret acts to interviews with people like Albert Speer. Pop culture done by Nazis, the banality of showbiz evil.
found here alternate link

If you were asked to design the perfect weapon to exploit this vulnerability as it manifests itself in attractive, urban gay men, you’d want something that would intensify our isolation, exaggerate our propensity to objectify each other, and persuade us to objectify ourselves -- by encouraging us to believe that our purpose is to look good and have lots of sex. Manhunt would be your perfect weapon

"Has Manhunt Destroyed Gay Culture?". It's a great article, but what happened after its publication may be just as interesting.
So the post-publication story goes like this: Out publishes its incisive thinkpiece about Manhunt.net [NSFW], the biggest gay hook-up site on the net, and its effects on gay culture. Some of the article devotes itself to the political leanings of the co-founders, Larry Basile and Jonathan Crutchley. Andy Towle at Towleroad takes that bit of info and reports that Crutchley has had donated $2300 to the McCain campaign. Not too many people are happy to hear that. Not his co-founder, not the McCain campaign, and certainly not the members, many of whom cancel their subscriptions. Crutchley subsequently steps down as chairman of the company, igniting another controversy over whether the actions of the gay community constitute a political witchhunt.

Yeah, this is kinda two separate posts in one, but oh well.