Proof that the internet is waaaay too much a part of my life: I hand-wrote a letter the other day. Folded it, put it in an envelope, addressed it, stamped it, and put it where the out-going mail goes. Thirty minutes later, I was obsessively checking my email looking for the response.
Category: current events
Ian just headed out to the party for this: Microsoft Photosynth makes star turn on CSI: NY tonight Not sure if I like the idea of it being a “Microsoft world”, but I do have quite a bit to be grateful to them for…
From Papua New Guinea to the United States at the climate talks in Bali: “We ask for your leadership. We seek your leadership. But if for some reason you’re not willing to lead. Leave it to the rest of us. Please get out of the way.” NPR No kidding. Apparently the whole world wants to go one way and the US has to plunk itself down in the middle of the road and say no. Fortunately, there was a sufficient quantity of booing and hissing to get the US delegate to back down and for there to actually be an …
I don’t suppose it came as a surprise to anyone that the President has declared his troop surge a success. He is, after all, apparently incapable of admitting fallibility. And I suppose it was a success, if the goals were to continue racking up Iraqi and US casualties, further distress tensions with Iran, and generally destroy whatever remained of any good feelings toward the US from the rest of the world. Since it’s too much to hope that the current administration might ever see or admit to their mistakes, it falls to Congress to deny funding for continuing this bungled …
There was a bit on NPR this morning about a power company in Massachusetts that is trying to get customers to conserve energy by providing immediate feedback on how much energy they are using. Use your toaster, get a readout on a little devise that says how much electricity your toast is using. Same for your clothes dryer. (I missed the name of the devise they are using – sleep fog and all). And then it occurred to me: why not have these kinds of meters for everything? A display in your shower that tells you how many gallons you’ve …
I can’t decide if it’s funny or sad. I mean, it’s seriously cool that King County Metro, Seattle City Light, and Seattle Parks and Recreation have started renting goats to clean up overgrown hillsides. It almost makes me wish we had some overgrown space around here so the goats would come to visit – Caitlyn would love it. But, it’s not like goats are a new technology. They’ve been eating aggressive plants, and winning, for, well, for as long as there have been goats. It’s us silly humans that gave up on goats in favor of machinery and chemicals. Never …