A great summary article on 10 issues in the realm of energy policy. Lots of hype and bluster and this list hits a bunch of nails on the head.

You've probably seen the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list to know what fishies are good or bad to buy.

NYC now has a program where you can officially be a recycling champion (some might say 'nag') for your apartment building, which they've apparently based on 'market research' (focus groups for trash?) plus the results of the waste chara

The Participatory Culture Foundation released Miro, a great TV/video app for Mac OSX. Free and open source, just the way we like it.

The German company Optimal has developed a CD-vinyl hybrid. A real cd with 3 minutes of 'vinyl' on top. You can plop it on your turntable with a little adapter (45s, anyone?). Can you scratch it, though?

Vinyl has been enjoying something of a revival for a bit, so while this seems strange in a way it makes some sense. The look like they'll make cool promos or concert sale CDs.

Your good fortune thought for the day.

Courtesy of my sister, some fun facts (one assumes) about drinking in history. I knew that Manhattan came from the native word Manahatta, but I didn't know that came from the original Manahachtanienk -- literally, "The High Island," and that's not because of the elevation.

 

 

I've been to some remote places: the southwestern tip of Costa Rica, the Andes of Peru. Seeing a dark sky, filled with stars and other celestial bodies is awe-inspiring, to say the least. David Owen has written a good article in the New Yorker about the problem of light pollution - the how outdoor artificial light is making it harder to find a dark place to see the beauty of the night sky. The article also mentions some interesting issues with the prevalence of bright outdoor lighting for 'security' purposes:

"Marcus Felson, a professor at the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University, has concluded that lighting is effective in preventing crime mainly if it enables people to notice criminal activity as it’s taking place, and if it doesn’t help criminals to see what they’re doing. Bright, unshielded floodlights—one of the most common types of outdoor security lighting in the country—often fail on both counts, as do all-night lights installed on isolated structures or on parts of buildings that can’t be observed by passersby (such as back doors). A burglar who is forced to use a flashlight, or whose movement triggers a security light controlled by an infrared motion sensor, is much more likely to be spotted than one whose presence is masked by the blinding glare of a poorly placed [flood light]."

Kudos the the International Dark-Sky Association for trying to keep our night skies visible and helping us to use less energy in the process. Another interesting proposal comes from the group Civil Twilight, who won a Metropolis Magazine Next Generation Award for their design concept: streetlights that respond to ambient moonlight, dimming and brightening each month as the moon cycles through its phases.

I've been looking for a replacement to Quicken for a while, sort of. The program is annoying in many minor ways, but having used it for several years, I wasn't really sure if I could stop. What else could substitute for it? I've started seeing maturing finance programs for the Mac for a little while now, so I started looking, and saw this rather intelligent roundup.