Another Easy Air Conditioning Scheme

via Keep your cool - Beat the Heat - Homebrew AC on the cheap

The City of Toronto uses the incoming water supply from Lake Ontario to cool off buildings downtown.

This process should be feasible for cities already drawing their water from the Great Lakes to replicate.

More information from EnWave - Deep Lake Water Cooling System

More Gin Fizz Recipes

via foldedspace.org - Gin Fizz, Illustrated

Carbon Neutrality

via Salon.com - Paying off our global warming sins: Buying credits to offset our driving and flying is helping to reduce greenhouse gases. But is the "carbon-neutral" movement really enough?

Another Study Showing Biodiesel Trouncing Ethanol

via AutoBlogGreen -> RenewableEnergyAccess.com - Biodiesel Edges Out Ethanol

[Ethanol] delivers 25 percent more energy than is used (mostly fossil fuel) in producing it, though much of that 25 percent energy dividend comes from the production of an ethanol byproduct, animal feed.

But the net energy gain is much higher -- 93 percent -- from biodiesel fuel derived from soybeans. And alternative crops such as switchgrass or mixed prairie grasses, which can grow on marginal land with minimal input of fossil fuel derived fertilizers and pesticides, offer the best hope for the future, according to the researchers.

Like if there were three of us and I didn’t know where to start? -GOB

AD to be syndicated on three different outlets.

via E! - "Arrested Development" Lives!

The syndication rights of the critically acclaimed yet criminally unwatched Arrested Development have been simultaneously licensed by Microsoft's MSN.com and the cable channels HDNet and G4, allowing the series to run on all three outlets through 2009.

What Can A Fake News Show Do That Real News Shows Can't?

1. Report the news
2. Point out hypocrisy

Two sources for a Daily Show clip pointing out the discrepancies in the 'culture of life' rhetoric.

via CrooksAndLiars - TDS: Stem Cell Redux

via YouTube =- The Daily Show - 2006.07.20 - Stem Cell Research

One of the best I've ever seen and something that everyone should see.

Lodge Expanding On The Shores Of Fremont Lake - Pinedale's Water Supply

via YubaNet - Forest Service Overrides EPA Drinking Water Contamination Objections

Avocado Goodness

via NPR - What's in a Name? The Avocado Story

Avocado Nutritional Summary

Seafood Watch Best Bets

Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch Program - A Consumer's Guide to Sustainable Seafood

What they list as "Best Choices"

Catfish (Farmed)
Caviar (Farmed)
Char, Arctic (Farmed)
Clams (Farmed)
Crab, Dungeness
Crab, Imitation (U.S. caught from Alaska)
Crab, Snow (Canada)
Crab, Stone
Halibut, Pacific
Lobster, Spiny (U.S. and Australia)
Mussels (Farmed)
Oysters (Farmed)
Pollock (U.S. caught from Alaska)
Salmon (Wild-Caught Alaska)
Sardines
Shrimp, Pink (Oregon)
Striped Bass (Farmed)
Striped Bass (Wild-Caught)
Sturgeon (Farmed)
Tilapia (U.S. Farmed)
Trout, Rainbow (Farmed)
Tuna, Albacore (Troll/Pole)
Tuna, Bigeye (Troll/Pole)
Tuna, Skipjack (Troll/Pole)
Tuna, Yellowfin (Troll/Pole)

UFO's and NASA

Via The Daily Record - Man On Moon: We Saw A UFO

Sploid - UFO Buzzed Apollo 11

This news is on top of the revelations last month that the "NASA Hacker" found what he was looking for:

'UFO Hacker' Tells What He Found

WN: What sort of evidence?

McKinnon: A NASA photographic expert said that there was a Building 8 at Johnson Space Center where they regularly airbrushed out images of UFOs from the high-resolution satellite imaging. I logged on to NASA and was able to access this department. They had huge, high-resolution images stored in their picture files. They had filtered and unfiltered, or processed and unprocessed, files.

My dialup 56K connection was very slow trying to download one of these picture files. As this was happening, I had remote control of their desktop, and by adjusting it to 4-bit color and low screen resolution, I was able to briefly see one of these pictures. It was a silvery, cigar-shaped object with geodesic spheres on either side. There were no visible seams or riveting. There was no reference to the size of the object and the picture was taken presumably by a satellite looking down on it. The object didn't look manmade or anything like what we have created. Because I was using a Java application, I could only get a screenshot of the picture -- it did not go into my temporary internet files. At my crowning moment, someone at NASA discovered what I was doing and I was disconnected.

I also got access to Excel spreadsheets. One was titled "Non-Terrestrial Officers." It contained names and ranks of U.S. Air Force personnel who are not registered anywhere else. It also contained information about ship-to-ship transfers, but I've never seen the names of these ships noted anywhere else.

Reaction To Bush's Signing Statements

via Forbes.com - Specter Prepping Bill to Sue Bush

via BusinessDay - Lawyers pull Bush up for bypassing laws

How Babies Learn Language

via NPR - Study Illuminates How Babies Learn to Speak

The Baby Human - To Talk episode was on Discovery HD last night and covered this subject too.

More Bad News For Electronic Voting

Via Ars Technica - Computer scientists weigh in on e-voting

I'm Steve Jobs Bitch

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is such a joker. I really liked the time he signed the guest book at Cherry Republic and then hid while watching two 50+ year old pudgies from Chicago wet themselves when they saw his name in the guestbook and then tried to get more information from the staff who dutifully played along with the joke.

Yes, it was a delightful pick on the middle-aged square guy day.

Interviews With The Young Stars Of Arrested Development

Brian M. Palmer - Michael Cera interview

When you were first talking to Mitch about the show, what did he tell you about it?

Well, he compared it to “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and those kinds of shows. I guess “The Office” as well. Those are kind of the same shows and feels. I know that a lot of the characters are loosely based on Mitch too. Like Mitch does magic, that's where he got GOB, and I think he had a cookie stand when he was a kid, which he changed to a banana stand.

Brian M. Palmer -Alia Shawkat interview

I was wondering if you guys feel like you're making this incredible show, and in a way, it's you versus FOX?

I get that feeling always when we get to times like this. When it's like, "Are we cancelled or not?" Otherwise you don't even realize it. We're just working and then all of a sudden it's like, "Whoa, wait, we really are in a battle to stay on the air. And the reason we're in a battle is because we're so different from everything else that's on the air." That's when it starts to come out. The other day Mitch [Hurwitz] came on the set and I was doing a scene with David, and Mitch was talking about how some of the people at the network were angry at him for not making the show dumber. An actual quote from one of the network executives to Mitch was, "You are trying too hard. Just stop trying so hard. We want it to be simpler." She was like, "Have you ever even tried to make it simpler?" They were angry at him for making the show too good. They were like, "You gotta dumb it down, slower pace. Have you ever tried to take out some of the storylines like we asked you to?" He was just sitting there dumbfounded, like, "What the fuck do you want me to do?" And he is the hardest working man you'll ever meet. He really is. The thing that's going to hurt me the most when the show is cancelled, is that the man won 7 Emmys, but he'll never be recognized as one of the hardest working men in Hollywood. He works all the time. He never has any breaks. The writers from season 2 quit because they had to work such crazy hours. And now we just got a fresh batch of young writers who work some god awful hours. But he actually said that the network execs were angry at him for making it too smart. I mean, we obviously know that it's different, but I'm not like, "We're above every show." It's just that we're the ones that have to fight to stay on the air, and fight to make another episode. We definitely appreciate what they give us, but we definitely have a love/hate relationship with FOX. I feel bad because I always make fun of FOX, how it's all made up of reality shows and "Prison Break," but I don't know. I don't know how we fit into their groove. But in my opinion they should be happy to have us. They should appreciate what they have, but of course to them it's all money, and right now we're not making them that much money.

Yeah, that episode where Michael got sick and was in the hospital, I was wondering if you saw that as how Mitch felt about the show, how the doctor was telling him he should let them make more of the decisions?

Definitely. Looking back on that, it probably was. He definitely talks back throughout his scripts. That was a subtle reference. The one we're shooting now is called "SOBs," and this one is definitely talking about it. This was right when we found out the back 9 were cancelled and there was rumor about the show getting cancelled indefinitely. So the whole script is Mitch talking back to the network. It's hysterical and definitely has some strong references in it. Everything we've shot we've been able to keep in. I don't know how FOX hasn't made us edit it.

Development Arrested, Or Is It?

Via tvguide.com - Arrested Star Caught in Witch Hunt

TVGuide.com: Speaking of Arrested Development, what did it feel like when you heard that the show had finally, definitively been canceled?
Shawkat: It wasn't a surprise. We were in limbo the entire time we were on the air. We were never really assured a second or a third season.

TVGuide.com: But after Fox canceled the show, it must have been doubly disappointing when creator Mitchell Hurwitz then turned down an offer from Showtime to keep the series going.
Shawkat: Mitch talked to us about it. While it was kind of sad, I feel the three seasons we did were perfect. If we had kept going, we would have had to beg people to watch the show, which would have been pathetic. We have great fans who love and appreciate the show, and I feel bad for them because they won't be able to see where these characters could have gone. But it was a good time to stop, and everyone was really understanding about it.

TVGuide.com: Do you think there might be an Arrested movie at some point? The final episode implied as much when your character, Maeby, tried to sell the rights to the Bluth story to Ron Howard.
Shawkat: Mitch actually recently told us that there is a good possibility for a movie, and that he's talking to Ron Howard about it.

TVGuide.com: You and your Arrested "cousin," Michael Cera, both appeared on another beloved but ratings-challenged series this past March, Veronica Mars. Will your characters reappear next season?
Shawkat: The creator [Rob Thomas] was a huge fan of Arrested, and he told us that he would love to have us back. But I know that Michael is busy and I'm in Vancouver right now, and we haven't officially been approached about anything. But it was fun to do.

TVGuide.com: It's a fun show. Of course, it failed to snag any Emmy nods. You must be happy in a bittersweet sort of way that Arrested earned its third straight nomination for outstanding comedy series.
Shawkat: Yeah, and it was great that Will [Arnett] got nominated, too. I have to admit, I smiled a little bit when I found out that Desperate Housewives didn't get nominated. They always steal, like, every award from us, and it's so frustrating.

TVGuide.com: Do you plan on attending the Emmys?
Shawkat: I don't know. Maybe I'll just go for kicks and be really obnoxious!

Season 3 DVD Available August 29th

I look forward to hearing the commentary by Mitch Hurwitz on "Development Arrested/Harboring Resentment".

Engineers Drive Honda

via Bloomberg - Honda Bets Scientists in Secret Engine Lab Can Outsmart Toyota

This is mostly a story about Honda's CEO Takeo Fukui who started as an engineer. The article also mentions Honda's upcoming US release of clean diesels.

An interesting note about the Honda diesels is Kenichi Nagahiro who invented the VTEC engine only agreed to diesel when he was allowed to start from scratch.

The Ethanol Gold Rush

Via Forbes - Ethanol Oversupply?

The nation's 97 ethanol plants are producing about 4.5 billion gallons of the corn-based fuel per year, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, and another 33 plants under construction would boost annual capacity to 6.4 billion gallons within a few years.

There's A Biodiesel Magazine

Biodiesel Magazine: The World of Biodiesel at Your Fingertips

They have a Proposed Biodiesel Plant List article and what is interesting is there is a proposed or planned biodiesel production capacity of 1.46 billion gallons. Today about 400 million gallons of biodiesel are commercially produced.

Traverse City, MI Has More Restaurants Per Capita Than Ithaca, NY

The smug cloud from Ithaca, NY can be overwhelming as they proclaim their greatness by pointing to things such as Ithaca has more restaurants per capita than New York City (http://www.visitithaca.com/media/fastfacts.htm) or the bolder claim of more restaurants than any town or city in the U.S. (http://www.gimmecoffee.com/press_2003.09_organic.php)

However, this is incorrect.

There does not seem to be any hard data to back this up and no original source that I could find. But Traverse City, MI is a culinary hot spot and some quick calculations show it has more restaurants as a percentage of population than Ithaca, NY.

2004 population data:

Itahca population = 29,952 (http://www.city-data.com/city/Ithaca-New-York.html)

The downtown Ithaca web site lists 55 dining establishments (http://www.downtownithaca.com/enjoy/dining.htm)

55 Restaurants / 29,952 people = 0.00184 restaurants per capita

2004 TC population = 14,508 (http://www.city-data.com/city/Traverse-City-Michigan.html)

Restaurants downtown = 33 according to the Downtown Traverse City web site (http://www.downtowntc.com/subPage.php?page=viewCompanies&companyType=Restaurants)

Divide 33 by 14,508.

Restaurants/capita = 0.00227

Therefore Traverse City has more restaurants than Ithaca, NY and by extension Traverse City has a higher restaurant density than New York City or any other place in the United States - maybe all of North America!

Hey Ithaca - don't let this get you down - Ithaca still is gorges.