“I think we ought to read only books that bite and sting us. If the book we are reading doesn’t shake us awake like a blow to the skull, why bother reading it in the first place? So it can make us happy? Good God, we’d be just as happy if we had no books at all…A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”

Franz Kafka

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happe
26.12.09

Some holiday viewing…

Stuart Brand’s “How Buildings Learn”, a 6-part BBC series from 1997 about what systems, often overlooked by architects, take hold of a building after it is built.

Totally applicable 13 years later for architects, designers, and web designers as we wonder why our “perfect” designs evolve once they are out in the real world.

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gjudelman
25.12.09

“Just because we humans can’t hear them doesn’t mean plants don’t howl.”

Plants Want to Live, Too - NYTimes.com

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paulkawai
24.12.09
“Canada’s image lies in tatters. It is now to climate what Japan is to whaling.”

The Guardian

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paulkawai
24.12.09
I had a dinner in my hometown and found this logo on the menu next to my salmon…
Ocean Wise 
Ocean Wise works directly with restaurants, markets, food services and suppliers ensuring that they have the most current scientific information regarding seafood and helping them make ocean-friendly buying decisions. The options are highlighted on their menus and display cases with the Ocean Wise symbol, making it easier for consumers to make environmentally friendly seafood choices.
all in all, a great initiative by a the Vancouver Aquarium that has many conservation programs

I had a dinner in my hometown and found this logo on the menu next to my salmon…

Ocean Wise

Ocean Wise works directly with restaurants, markets, food services and suppliers ensuring that they have the most current scientific information regarding seafood and helping them make ocean-friendly buying decisions. The options are highlighted on their menus and display cases with the Ocean Wise symbol, making it easier for consumers to make environmentally friendly seafood choices.

all in all, a great initiative by a the Vancouver Aquarium that has many conservation programs

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karyancheung
24.12.09

Massive Change by Bruce Mau is released, asking designers to think about their work within a greater global context. (via The Decade in Design - Design is a Verb - GOOD
)

Massive Change by Bruce Mau is released, asking designers to think about their work within a greater global context. (via The Decade in Design - Design is a Verb - GOOD

)

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pmharrington
24.12.09

Wind Turbine Transformed Into World’s Largest Revolving LED Super Star

Wind Turbine Transformed Into World’s Largest Revolving LED Super Star

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karyancheung
23.12.09


  • The energy and resources needed to build one medium-sized car could produce 100 bicycles.

  • 95% of a car’s energy goes towards moving the car itself, and only 5% to moving the passenger—vs. a 30-lb. bicycle: 83% of the energy goes towards transporting the rider, not the vehicle


  • Traffic congestion wastes three billion gallons of gas a year.

  • AAA of Minnesota puts the annual cost at $7,754 for 2003 for a vehicle driven 15,000 miles.

  • Thirty percent of morning traffic is caused by parents dropping their kids off at school.

  • The design capacity for a freeway lane is roughly about 1,500 persons/hour.

  • Each fully loaded 18-wheeler does nearly as much damage to a roadway as 9,600 automobiles

  • The number of trips taken on foot has dropped 42% in the last 20 years.

  • On average, states spent just 55 cents per person of their federal transportation funds on pedestrian projects in the years studied, less than 1% of their total federal transportation dollars. Average spending on highways came to $72 per person.

via Treehugger

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mikedudek
23.12.09


(Aerosol optical thickness is scale that describes how much pollution was in the air based on how much of the incoming sunlight the particles absorbed.) Places where the air was thick with soot are white, while lower concentrations are transparent purple.
Animated Infographic: download large animation image

via earthobservatory.nasa.gov

(Aerosol optical thickness is scale that describes how much pollution was in the air based on how much of the incoming sunlight the particles absorbed.) Places where the air was thick with soot are white, while lower concentrations are transparent purple.

Animated Infographic: download large animation image

via earthobservatory.nasa.gov

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mikedudek
22.12.09

Photo of the recent snow-storm to hit Washington DC.

via earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Photo of the recent snow-storm to hit Washington DC.

via earthobservatory.nasa.gov

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mikedudek
22.12.09

Letterpress 101

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paulkawai
22.12.09

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