Saturday, August 21, 2010

The most isolated man on the planet. - By Monte Reel - Slate Magazine

The last member of an uncontacted South American tribe lives alone in a patch of jungle. Holy Jesus.

"In 2007, with ranching and logging closing in quickly on all sides, government officials declared a 31-square-mile area around him off-limits to trespassing and development.
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It's meant to be a safe zone. He's still in there. Alone."

The most isolated man on the planet. - By Monte Reel - Slate Magazine

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

For bikeped's sake, don't close the gate.


This article covers the possible gate closure between the Depot Marketplace and Granite Creek Park in Prescott. I'm hoping to goodness that someone's thinking about pedestrian and bicycle safety to and from the marketplace from all the neighborhoods west of the park.

Good neighborhoods have lots of passages and connections and pass-throughs for people on bikes and on foot. Closing the gate would close a vital, vital connection in a town that already has too few. I understand safety, especially at night, is a consideration, but in this case, closing the gate would swap one set of hazards for another.
Turning the gate over to the Depot Marketplace owner almost assures that commercial interests will supercede community interests. This is not a win for Prescott nor for its vulnerable pedestrians and cyclists.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Montag's 10-procedure plastic surgeon dies by driving off cliff while Tweeting about his border collie

And dear Candace claps, howls and says, "We love this for so many reasons."

Yes, Cadence, we really do.

With constitutional fetters and a public conscience, Obama going down in flames

Obama, the one-term president - Roger Simon - POLITICO.com

Barack Obama is shown. | AP Photo

Enrolling young kids can mean a lifelong label

Youngest in class get ADHD label - USATODAY.com

Healthcare: Japan's not just about trusty automobiles

This Newsweek article opens by stating that Japan is at the top of every comparative ranking in terms of quality, coverage and cost. Food for thought as we struggle with our expensive, bloated, inadequate and therefore deadly system:

Japan's Good, Cheap Health Care - Newsweek


"Japan produces ... high-quality care at bargain-basement prices. The aging nation spends about $3,500 per person on health care each year; America burns through $7,400 per person and still leaves millions without coverage."

Friday, August 13, 2010

Seattle loses an inveterate digger of science dirt, gains a handyman

Seattle skyline at night

"To hear Tom Paulson tell it, his career in science journalism and its environs has been a long saga of “pissing people off.” During the 1980s, for instance, Paulson was working in public affairs at the University of California-Berkeley, where it fell to him to publicize the work of controversial biochemist Bruce Ames, who argues that natural carcinogens can be just as dangerous as synthetic ones. Paulson thought that was “ridiculous,” and therefore instructed a roomful of journalists about how they might “poke holes” in Ames’ claims. And when nobody took him up on the suggestion, Paulson went one better; He wrote a freelance article for the Sierra Club’s magazine debunking Ames and criticizing the journalists who’d failed to cover him with adequate skepticism. As a publicist, he had gone completely rogue."
It's a Carl Hiaasen wet dream, that.
Anyway, he worked for years at the Seattle PI and should be sliding off his severage package right about now.
Read the article: Science-less in Seattle

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Man Scrawls World’s Biggest Message With GPS ‘Pen’ | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

Man Scrawls World’s Biggest Message With GPS ‘Pen’ | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

And this, of course, is what any of us would have written:



Though for the record, I should note that A. Reading Ayn Rand caused me to vote for Dubya's daddy back in the early 90s, and B. Her novel, We The Living is among my top five favorite books. Beats The Fountainhead all over the block because it's way less with the political treatise and way more with the keeping it real. Rand herself was not pleased that this was the case, but really not for me to care.



IMing a hundred years ago: File this under "cool"

Check it out:

From 1890: The First Text Messages | Sunday Magazine


FRIENDS THEY NEVER MEET

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Wired.com: Why Google became a net neutrality surrender monkey

Wired's got good journalism, and this is an important issue.


"Mobile openness is the tool of the outsider, not the incumbent. ... Phone-to-phone, Android is now outselling the iPhone. Google doesn’t need openness anymore."

Why Google Became A Carrier-Humping, Net Neutrality Surrender Monkey (UPDATED) | Epicenter| Wired.com

Our brains are as the Internet...

...and yet the Internet appears to make our brains work more like flitty little dragon flies. Weird.

Neurons

BBC News - Brain works more like internet than 'top down' company

Check out this awesome free screen capture software

Monkey girl never fails to install this software on any new computer. And it it seems like the company would appreciate a plug, so here it is:

Saturday, August 7, 2010