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December 20 to 31, 2005

Have a very happy New Year's, everyone. Thus ends the first full year of Kev's News.

An official collection of satellite photos of the tsunami sites...

A collection of tsunami videos...

April 25 to May 1, 2005

Mac OS X Tiger

Hawaii's High-Tech Successes, Today

April 18 to 24, 2005

High-Tech Junk

April 11 to 17, 2005

The New Hippies

This couple started an eco-porn site for rain forest protection and have already raised almost $100,000...

Christopher Swain swims through miles of polluted sewage to bring attention to clean water issues...

"A new generation of flower children keeps psychedelic folk alive"

April 4 to 10, 2005

Here's a concise Q&A page on the Akaka bill (The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005), with the text of the bill included. In a nutshell, the bill "lays out the procedures through which Native Hawaiians could organize a government that the United States would recognize", but within a federal framework...

Low-power FM (LPFM) radio, devised by the FCC to provide an alternative to corporate-centric radio, is now being dominated by Christian radio networks, effectively limiting the diversity of local community voices over the airwaves. In addition, by using "translators", these stations are extending their reach across states in ways never intended by the FCC. This is certainly true in Hawaii - I did a study of statewide LPFM use last year, and found that an efficient Oahu-wide radio network could be established with five distributed LPFM stations at a total cost of $25,000...

March 28 to April 3, 2005

History, Patents, and You

March 21 to 27, 2005

Anti-War Sentiment in Popular Culture

This was a top item in news all over the world this week: Banksy, an artist mostly known for his quality graffiti work, snuck into New York's most famous museums and affixed his anti-war work to the walls, managing to avoid detection for three days...

Rock group Franz Ferdinand's music video "Take Me Out" won the "Breakthrough Video" award at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. It uses high-tech techniques to create dense living collages patterned after dada and surrealist art of the 1910's and 20's, which was a response to the nonsensical violence and aftermath of World War I. Their video "This Fire" does the same thing with 1940's Soviet propaganda design. Whether intended or not, these videos hold a mirror to today's atmosphere of war, terrorism, surveillance, and long-distance pain rays - you can view them here. Note - try the "external player" link if the video freezes...

Finally, indie rock group the Decemberists released a high-res version of their music video "Sixteen Military Wives" via file sharing. They are among the first musicians to release a music video online with such high quality...

March 14 to 20, 2005

A nice quote from the Molokai land flap mentioned last week: "The controversy is hard to explain from the Western perspective that land is something to be bought, owned and sold to make profit... [the] Hawaiian perspective is that land is to be cared for so it will care for the people. Land is not a commodity." If you could learn only one thing about Hawaiian culture and its relationship to the rest of the world, that is probably all you need to know...

Did you know that Hawaiian is the sole growing indigenous language in the U.S.? Still, there are only about 8,000 Hawaiian-language speakers right now...

Only in Hawaii - people made corned beef sushi with green rice for St. Patrick's day. I think it should be a symbol of world unity or something. Note that this type of sushi (musubi) is usually made with spam, and is quite tasty when done right...

March 7 to 13, 2005

Changing Hawaii

Trashing Hawaii

February 28 to March 6, 2005

Howard Stringer becomes Sony's first non-Japanese CEO, after five years of stock declines and poor business decisions. The beginning of the end was circa 1998, when the mp3 community (then a loose collective of Web sites that posted mp3 files for downloading) sent a letter to Sony asking them if they would support the mp3 format in their minidisc players. A rather arrogant response was written by a Sony engineer saying that their ATRAC format was superior in every way, shape and form, and that there was no good reason to support an inferior format. The letter has been lost in time, but the repercussions continue...

February 21 to 27, 2005

The Continuing iPod Phenomenon

February 14 to 20, 2005

Hawaii's poetry slam team made quite a splash last year at the national poetry slam competition in St. Louis. You can watch their inspiring performances in a new documentary on the subject called "Hawaii Slam: Poetry in Paradise". Not only does it help break a few ugly stereotypes about Hawaii, but it also shows cutting-edge slam poets pushing the boundaries of the art form...

Honolulu was recently ranked as the fourth most expensive place to live in the U.S. lately, behind New York, San Francisco, and San Jose, CA...

Will an environmental impact statement requirement kill Hawaii's inter-island Superferry? This article explains the issues involved, and why an EIS may not really be needed. In any case, could it not be done in parallel with the project?

I went to the last meeting of 106 Miles, a new Silicon Valley entrepreneur's group organized by Joyce Park, my colleague at CommerceNet. If you'd like to get your finger on the pulse of the Valley these days, here's Adam Rifkin's excellent recap and transcript of the first 106 Miles meeting, which featured Joe Kraus and Graham Spencer, ex-co-founders of Excite...

January 31 to February 6, 2005

I broke down and got one of the last iPod shuffles - the 1GB model - at the Ala Moana Apple store. Its competitors tout radio and recording capabilities, but on such gadgets the line-in recording quality sucks and I don't listen to non-digital ClearChannel-dominated radio anyway, which is a wasteland these days (outside of college and public stations). With the Apple-supplied headphones, the bass response is great, and as usual the design is outstanding.

January 24 to 30, 2005

It's time for Hawaii to promote innovate mixed-use businesses that foster community development. Mentioned last week was the concept of "bike stations", which could be placed next to mass transportation hubs (bus stops, rail and ferry) and combined with a wi-fi cafe, repair shop, newspaper stand, and storage lockers...

How about a wi-fi cafe combined with a print-on-demand bookstore? Now that so many book sales are online, how about putting the bookstore in the cafe instead of the cafe in the bookstore? A suitable print-on-demand area could offer periodicals, posters and books from local artists and writers, hard-to-find foreign books and dictionaries, and high-resolution coffee table books. Use recycled paper (such as from New Leaf) and eco-friendly inks, and you've got a bookstore with a minimal landfill footprint. Put up printed artwork by local creatives and offer free sample books to read while eating your sandwich, and you've got a community-oriented social scene. I'm not even going into burn-on-demand CDs and DVDs from local artists here. Xerox has long been a proponent of print-on-demand technology...

Or how about emulating the business model of San Francisco's Brainwash, a successful cafe-and-laundromat that also sells t-shirts and hosts local musicians as well as comedy nights? They've got a Web site with an events calendar and webcams, and was packed when I last visited it. They also provide dry cleaning and wash-and fold service. Let's make doing the laundry fun for a change...

The high cost of filming in Hawaii is leading productions to think twice about shooting in the islands. This article compares Hawaii's incentives to other locations...

January 17 to 23, 2005

I had the pleasure of listening to XM Satellite Radio all week (which was bundled with my Alamo rental car) while working in Mountain View, CA. It sounds great and the music choices are wonderful. There's even an "Unsigned" channel full of nothing but music from unsigned bands. Drops in the signal are handled by soft white noise that fades in and out gracefully without abrupt changes. Given that computers are changing how people listen to music, I wish the interface had the ability to keep the name of the artist, song, and album displayed at all times - that's the most important information, after all. Station identification is so irrelevant these days... XM to iTunes integration is likely coming...

I went to the Palo Alto Apple Store, which until 1995 used to be Swain's House of Music, where the Grateful Dead played a few times and where it's rumored that Jerry Garcia bought one of his first electric guitars (when I lived off of Hamilton Avenue during the 90's I bought a few items there). The store was out of iPod shuffles, but I was able to try out its only Mac mini, which was connected to a 20-inch Cinema display. I noticed a few things...

January 10 to 16, 2005

The big news in Kev's world this week was the introduction of the Mac mini - it's a small yet powerful box not much wider than a CD that supports pretty much any display, keyboard, and mouse for $500. Not only is it less wasteful environmentally, but you could easily velcro this to the underside of a desk (or to the back of your LCD monitor) and never have to see it. Or put it in a drawer. Never mind this "den" the reviews keep suggesting it would be great for.

About two minutes after someone pointed out that the Mac mini was smaller than a standard car radio, companies started working on plans to offer in-car Macs to handle entertainment and car functions. Hey, which technology would you rather have running your car - Microsoft's or Apple's?

Of course, note that you can create installations of hundreds of Mac minis (for computer labs and offices), all remotely (and centrally) upgradable and managed via Apple Remote Desktop...

Are you a Mac-hating bigot?

January 1 to 9, 2005

Honolulu's Chinatown is cultivating an "art chic". This article notes that "the state is currently gathering data on what it calls the creative economy in Hawai'i to assess its economic impact". "People who never thought about it before will realize the vital importance of the creative economy in Hawai'i", says Judy Drosd of DBEDT.

Professor Francis Boyle, an expert on international law from the U. of Illinois, recently gave an informative talk on the restoration of the independent nation state of Hawaii under international law. Did you know that the U.S. views the Kingdom of Hawaii as a non-recognized sovereign state? He outlines steps to regain sovereignty, using as a guide the mostly successful efforts of Palestine to be internationally recognized...

The State of Virginia allows hybrid cars to drive in high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, and this has led to so many hybrid vehicles being bought that now Virginia's HOV lanes are clogged with them (they're ending the policy in 2006). That's a good problem!

December 13 to 19, 2004

Hawaii Transportation Systems Get Digital

Here's the latest on the $150 million high-tech University of Hawai'i medical school being built in Kaka'ako...

December 6 to 12, 2004

Architects Are Really Poor Web Designers

November 29 to December 5, 2004

I've added a couple of experimental features to the blog which I'm still refining - one is a "Topics" link which analyzes all the words I've written. The larger the word, the more common it is. Also, I've added images to the site. Article images are automatically chosen from the links I include in my news (like Google News), something I've been wanting to do for a while. Check it out!

"Anti-evolution teachings gain foothold in U.S. schools"...

November 22 to 28, 2004

I'm now working at zLab, the CommerceNet "center for decentralization" in Mountain View, California. It's been a while since anyone started a software research lab in the area - let's see what we whip up in 2005...

I just finished watching "The End of Suburbia", a great and disturbing DVD I mentioned here previously. You can watch one of the included bonus movies "In the Suburbs" for free at the Prelinger Archives. This 1957 movie targeted young adults moving to the suburbs and is a story of the generation that pioneered the malling of America. It's fascinating to hear how the suburbs were introduced as something entirely new in modern life; this short provides an illuminating perspective on how we got to the mess we're in...

Today a new blog is created every 5.8 seconds - here's the latest statistics on the state of the blogosphere. Over 90% of bloggers are 13 to 29 years old...

Meanwhile, here's an article on the democratic effects of the "blog revolution" in China. "...the information flow in the blogosphere has its own Way. The Way is our strategy: personal, fast, connected and networked.�

November 15 to 21, 2004

The latest developments regarding the potential move of the Leslie A. Hicks Power Plant near Aloha Tower. Perhaps a "grand" park is not warranted, but it would at least be nice to see a greener mix of local businesses, housing, and venues to bring more life to downtown Honolulu...

Why doesn't someone in Hawaii go into the LIDAR 3D mapping business? Hollywood pays millions for LIDAR 3D models for use in movies, and to date there are no models of the islands...

Pros and cons regarding the upcoming Superferry - discuss them in public this week...

New hybrid buses have started in Honolulu and wow the public. New smart card bus passes, too...

Kaho'olawe restoration volunteers are needed...

KAHEA points out the environmental impact of cruise ships in Hawaii...

November 8 to 14, 2004

"Spin" - then: This movie made of 100% unauthorized satellite TV footage is a fascinating look into how global communications technology was used by the image makers in the 1992 presidential election. It shows how technologically savvy the Clinton campaign was, and how other promising candidates were kept out of the public eye because they were not deemed media-worthy...

"The Persuaders" - now: This show aired on Frontline this week exploring advertising's latest evolution - it's all about narrowcasting and emotional advertising that speaks to your "inner lizard" and not your intellect. Will this have the effect of making us numb to emotional pleas, or giving us everything our id desires at the expense of everything else? Watch the entire series online and see how political marketing technology has progressed in the 12 years since "Spin" was made - from region-specific satellite campaigning in 1992 to highly targeted political videos (on a door-to-door basis) in Ohio in 2004...

"The Persuaders" also featured a short clip of Bob Dylan in his Victoria's Secret commercial. The danger is that kids these days only know Bob Dylan as the "Victoria's Secret" guy. There is hope, however - this week the Secret Service questioned students for singing his powerful song "Masters of War" at a high school talent show. Protest music is only relevant if there are repercussions to singing it. It's relevant now...

Advertisers are also wondering how to reach the "mobile phone generation". They're worried that cell phones are making people more self-centered. I think that the newer generations can be very socially aware, but will be in new ways that won't make sense to older generations and that aren't readily apparent, thanks to social technology that easily transcends physical location and traditional forms of interaction...

Ever need to do a little research yourself on the latest trends? Just go to Google News and search for a few key phrases, sorted by date. Here are four: "international survey", "scientific breakthrough", "environmental disaster", and "health crisis"...

November 1 to 7, 2004

Election Hangover

Fear and Ignorance

Everybody's Got an Opinion

The Younger Generation Speaks Out

Let's Move... Or Not

Where Are They Now?

October 25 to 31, 2004

Ready for the election? "Tight race turns world spotlight on Hawaii"...

"Administration's own actions fuel rumors of draft"...

Eminem's "Mosh" music video - could it be one of the "most overtly political pop videos ever produced?" Note that Eminem has sold over 25 million albums...

Yes, the same Hart eSlate voting machines used in Hawaii caused Democratic votes to turn into Republican ones in Austin, Texas...

October 18 to 24, 2004

Re-establishing the Ancient Internet

October 4 to 10, 2004

The super-cute high-tech $13,000 Smart Fortwo, although now only offered in Europe, would be a perfect car for island tourists - it gets up to 71 miles per gallon on a 9 gallon tank and you can park three in a single standard parking space. Note that it only has slightly over half the torque of a Honda Civic, so you don't want to try driving it up steep hills...

The State of Hawaii just launched the "Hawai'i Business Express", which allows one to start a business easily online via all the relevant departments. Unfortunately, ending a business is still a multi-department paper-based process...

September 27 to October 3, 2004

Hart Intercivic makes those evoting machines that people in Hawaii will be using in the upcoming general election. Here's a recent article about a letter written by a former Hart technician who alleges "criminal fraud" and "extreme negligence", as well as misleading conduct. These machines are currently used only in Ohio, Texas, and Hawaii...

Suburbia is a health hazard - a new study has found that not only are people less healthy due to overdependence on cars, but from a community design perspective, it's a very inefficient way to live. It's making less sense to place mass single-use residential zones far, far away from resources...

September 20 to 26, 2004

It takes a lot of energy and money to send Oahu's garbage to the mainland. Rather than spreading our trash around the planet, are there better alternatives?

The popular Kaimuki neighborhood trolley service ends. There's nothing wrong with more bus lines, but now there's less character, no open-air transportation with wide views, and less fun for tourists and locals...

Hawaii's special-effects industry has some heavy hitters. Kai Bovaird, who set up a local shop, made effects for the Matrix. "There's definitely skilled people (in Hawaii) but you need serious and aggressive action by people with a lot of money to get things started"...

September 13 to 19, 2004

A new travel survey "found Hawaii consistently fell below most competitor destinations in offering good value for the money and unspoiled beauty. Also, Japanese visitors did not view the islands as having an intriguing culture or history."

The Kona community pushes back against out-of-control, monolithic development...

Does anyone know of space for a gymnastics program that "put 11 kids on the national team last year"?

September 5 to 12, 2004

"Luring Gen-Xers to Islands not easy"

How can arts and culture transform a neighborhood? The documentary "Downside UP", about the largest museum of contemporary art in the U.S. and how it transformed an 80 percent vacant town into a bustling economic success...

"Hokulia construction ban upheld by judge"

Hawaiian man fights to reclaim family's land

August 30 to September 5, 2004

Happy Labor Day!

"Despite a strong state economy, the homeless rate in Hawaii has nearly doubled over the past four years, and the majority of the new homeless are native Hawaiians and those with some Hawaiian ancestry"...

Isn't it funny that the Superferry sports an array of high-tech gadgets - and two human observers - to do nothing but ensure that whales are avoided at all costs...

Dates of public hearings on the sale of Verizon Hawaii to The Carlyle Group...

Disney creates a revolution in fireworks by creating a compressed air launching system. Air-launched fireworks are more precise, less polluting, safer, and can be launched higher. How about using this system at Magic Island off of Waikiki, where fireworks are launched every week?

August 22 to 29, 2004

All about the Hawaii Superferry, which starts service in 2006 and will change island life as we know it...

Superferry CEO Tim Dick will be speaking at the Plaza Club on September 15th...

A new Windows worm has the ability to spy on users with webcams and microphones...

Microsoft's Spanish version of Windows XP translated "woman" as "bitch". Users unamused...

Famous tech writer John C. Dvorak calls for the death of Microsoft Word...

Even Windows' recent Service Pack 2 is insecure...

August 15 to 22, 2004

Idea of the Week: Nature Cemeteries What a great concept: there's less cost and waste for the industry, there's a pent-up demand, land is conserved (and preserved), and it's cheaper for consumers. Perfect for places with lots of conservation land and dense populations. Cremation is polluting and less intimate. And why be buried in an expensive, non-biodegradable box? Weren't people buried this way once? Here's how one California company is doing it...

Save Kaimana Beach!

I was in line at the Kalihi DMV for two hours getting a replacement license. Three of six clerks are working, and those working spend about 30 seconds each transaction just retrieving paper-based files from massive cabinets. When there are 50 people ahead of you, it adds up. Apparently the state isn't sure if digital records are legal yet. How about taking some lessons from California's DMV, perhaps one day using self-service kiosks?

August 8 to 14, 2004

Topic of the Week: Changing Hawaii

Revitalize the Waterfront and Downtown

Save Maui

Vote

August 2 to 8, 2004

Topic of the Week: Supporting Local Arts and Designs Hawaii is one of the toughest states for those involved in the arts to make a living. The word on the street is that Studio One, a popular gallery and entertainment venue (and home to the nation's largest registered poetry slams), will be closing in October. Despite what you might say about their business model, it provides a needed outlet for artists (poets, painters, and musicians looking for a voice) as well as the audience (which is willing to pay for cheaper alternatives to the opera and the symphony).

Here's a few suggestions...

"Quest for logo a fruitless pursuit"

July 26 to August 1, 2004

After a year in operation, Kev's News goes online! Since everyone seems to have a blog these days, I decided to go ahead and just do it. I see the rise of blogs as a symptom of people learning how to use the Web personally as a tool for information dissemination, optimization, and analysis. The capability to use the Web this way is one of the innate characteristics of hypermedia, and the technology has a long way to go to reach its true potential.

"Crowded communities demand change"

"Support scarce for latest UH logo ideas"

Cheap projection technology is giving rise to "guerilla drive-ins". This is a symptom of this generation's need for commerce-free, authentic culture and socializing...

July 19 to 25, 2004

Topic of the week: compulsory Web site registrations! Lots of people hate 'em, and they can lead to identify theft. But how are sites to make money? Just go to BugMeNot to get around site registrations...

"We Don't Need No Stinkin' Login"...

July 12 to 18, 2004

Cool Concept of the Week: Seed Balls Take 100 to 200 properly chosen seeds of plants, trees, fruits, and vegetables, and pack them in a hardened sphere of mineral-rich red clay. Scatter one about every square foot, and in a year you have a sustainable Natural Farm. Requires no watering, pesticides, fertilizer, or even topsoil, and you can plant at any time. Seed balls can be scattered manually or dropped into remote areas by plane. Fully sustain one person per 2,000 square feet of land planted this way.

An enlightening visit with sensei Masanobu Fukuoka...

The Seed Ball site...

July 5 to 11, 2004

Have you ditched Internet Explorer yet? It's lost 1% in popularity so far, its first recorded decline in five years. That's about 300,000 people...

Will libraries be illegal? Brewster Kahle's Internet Archive aims to be the modern Library of Alexandria - here's a fascinating recent talk on his fight to archive digital media and create a free global library - daily they record and archive dozens of TV stations around the world and receive hundreds of "legal" concert recordings, movies, and books in digital format. But there are plenty of current laws that can prevent you from getting access to it: The Internet Archive...

June 28 to July 4, 2004

"US Government warns against Internet Explorer"

Instead, use the faster, better Firefox browser...

June 21 to 27, 2004

This week's theme: the Fahrenheit 9/11 effect Why should you move away from DSL to cable? First, there's the new Supplier Federal Universal Service Fund (FUSF) Recovery Fee, which only applies to DSL and not cable. Cable users typically get a discount from the cable provider if they have Internet and cable TV. DSL users, however, get taxed twice by the phone company if they also have a working phone line...

The (relatively new) RoadRunner business-class services are not only competitive with business-class DSL now, but are actually cheaper as the bandwidth gets bigger (Hawaii prices) - you get better than T1 speeds for $249 a month. Of course, not all businesses have a cable installation, which is a big roadblock to adoption...

Second, the Carlyle Group is looking to buy Verizon Hawaii - this is just part of their recent massive purchases of telecoms in the Pacific region. The deal is "complex", as it involves a number of shell companies and financing partners...

If you've seen Fahrenheit 9/11, you know who the Carlyle Group is - the largest private defense contractor in the world and one of the most powerful companies that most people have never heard of, making hundreds of millions from Iraq and 9/11. Of course, they also recently bought the Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corporation, which owns theaters that Fahrenheit 9/11 is currently showing in...

...while the Verizon deal will likely go through, people in Hawaii should see the film and take the opportunity to reflect how the war will soon be affecting their lives in a very direct way.

"California sues food companies over mercury levels in canned tuna"...

"I Was Kim Jong Il's Cook"

June 14 to 20, 2004

Theme of the week: Humanity I just finished watching "The Corporation", an amazing film that traces the roots, rights, and wrongs of the corporate entity. It ties together politics, global issues, sustainability, psychology, and activism together in entertaining and powerful ways - Kev says two thumbs up.

What does the military have to say about humanity? Here's a booklet carried by Vietnam soldiers which they were told to keep at all times...

This has been popular, but I love the quote: "[Defense] firms are about to pitch "a frightening new breed of stun gun" to police in America and Europe that has left human rights groups appalled about the risk to bystanders and people in poor health"...

"The Fight of Our Lives"

May 24 to 30, 2004

Remember the photo diary of that Russian motorcyclist touring around Chernobyl? It turns out that it was a fake...

Curious locals dig up Area 51 wireless perimeter sensors on public land and get busted by the FBI and Air Force agents...

An S.F. gallery closes after its owner is assaulted for displaying a painting depicting the abuse of Iraqi soldiers by American troops. And this in the typically "counterculture" North Beach area too...

Play video games to reduce obesity! "Video game fans dance off extra pounds"...

Drink beer to reduce liver damage! (see last week's "Caffeine May Prevent Liver Damage")...

May 17 to 23, 2004

1) We have no right to complain. "Americans entitled to cheap gas -- right?"

2) We should pay more for gas anyway.

3) If we did Iraq right, gas would be cheaper...

4) Obesity is now a global issue. The World Health Organization enters the picture...

5) Things are tough enough. $45,000 is poverty level in Los Angeles...

May 10 to 16, 2004

Topic of the week: More architecture! Architect Michelle Kaufmann is an American hero. She's the first person to finally begin to fulfill Frank Lloyd Wright's dream of cheap quality homes, a goal Wright pursued with his "Usonian" homes but never quite took off due to rising costs.

"Thousands tour first Glidehouse at Sunset - Interest in affordable, 'green,' modern prefab runs high:"

A little bit about the Usonian homes (1936-1959)...

May 3 to 9, 2004

The Sasser worm, developed by an 18 year-old in Germany who also made the ubiquitous "Netsky" email virus, infected an estimated million computers last week, 80% of which belonged to home users and students. It takes an average of ten minutes for an unprotected Windows XP or 2000 PC to be affected once connected to the net. Victims included...

Your computer's security may be compromised just by listening to it (acoustic cryptanalysis)...

April 19 to 25, 2004

This week's theme: helping Hawaii be more eco-tech-friendly. 1) Keep Act 221 to high-tech, and make a new act specifically for television and movie production. The two industries have different needs, timelines, and budgets, so why not incentivize them differently - and keep the controversy out of Act 221 at the same time? "Hawaii back in spotlight - Isle workers are excited by the flood of possibilities from Hollywood"...

2) Support blending ethanol with gasoline, and support the growth of local ethanol manufacturers. Which raw (waste) materials are cost-effective to import to Hawaii to produce ethanol? Does importing have to be done?: "Ethanol bill heads to committee"...

A company has found a way to develop ethanol from waste straw and wood chips on a commercial scale, a world first...

3) How about this for a cleanup-inducing pilot project? But use the voices of well-known locals: Berlin's pilot program of talking trash cans that congratulate you when used have proven to be a huge hit, prompting some citizens to go back for more...

4) Endorse the use of lead-free computer systems, at least by government: The world's first lead-free motherboard (the main component in personal computers) has been developed!

And Intel plans to cut the lead content of computer chips by 95%...

5) Support sustainable architecture and treat architecture as part of the environment: "The McMansion Next Door - Why the American house needs a makeover" (10/2003)...

The first fully-sustainable house has been developed - it's powered by solar and runs entirely on hydrogen...

April 12 to 18, 2004

AAGH! Tax time! A study shows that taxes are getting more complex, thanks to the rising popularity of sophisticated tax preparation software...

Remember, April 19 to 25 is "TV Turnoff Week"! A survey finds that people watch less TV after letting go of the boob tube for a week...

It's the 10th anniversary of unsolicited commercial email, aka spam. Yay, not. On my servers I got about 1,500 spams daily until I installed a custom filtering system. Now it's down to about 20, but still very annoying...

April 5 to 11, 2004

Bad singing - it's in fashion again! William Hung is a plucky 21-year-old U.C. Berkeley engineering student who tried out for American Idol and was kicked off halfway through his audition. His first album was released last Tuesday...

William Hung: Racism, Or Magic?

Here's Wing (sorry, not Wings). For your own protection, limit yourself to one of any of the following songs...

The McCollough Effect

Aspiring filmmaker? Make your own Steadycam (camera stabilizer) for $14...

Studies show that Guinness is actually very healthy for you!

March 31, 2004

Let's face it folks - taken as a whole, Hawaii architecture sucks. And the urban planning leaves a lot to be desired.

Hawaii Kai is one of the most garish neighborhoods I've seen. Hawaii is not Greece, Italy, or Hollywood. So why build faux (stucco, fenced-in, highly paved) structures which are neither here nor there? Hawaii is made of islands, standalone communities that must work together. So where's the mixed-use zones and the co-housing developments that strengthen community and small businesses while reducing waste? Where's the open, flowing, natural, "outdoors is in" architecture that complements Hawaii's culture and environment? Why do new developments persist in creating isolated pockets of (condo, suburban) living, entertainment, and business? This type of forward-thinking architecture is not more expensive, contrary to the typical developer's worldview. It only requires more creativity. Witness the works of architect John Lautner (the most successful of Frank Lloyd Wright's students), who built the Science Building at UH Hilo. It had a natural ventilation system that all but eliminated air conditioning costs. A civic administration building of his was made of formed concrete which included inspiring views and natural integration with the outside. It was a joy to work in, met all of the county requirements, and ended up costing less than traditional plans. People are paying more attention to their homes, community, and design these days, as evidenced by real estate booms in California and Hawaii and nesting trends of older generations. Here's an enjoyable design site that offers new ideas daily in architecture and industrial design: "Modern contemporary design and architecture"

Magazines about homes - called "shelter magazines" - are taking off despite an overall decrease in magazine sales, with 40 launched in 2002 alone...

In the Bay Area, multiple offers over 10 are not uncommon. Houses have gone for $300,000 over the asking price. Median home prices in San Francisco are $200,000 over that of Oahu and $100,000 over that of Maui. The average Bay Area home is $100,000 more than the average home on Oahu...

The last two years have seen a rise in co-housing and prefabricated architecture projects in Europe and the U.S.. Thanks to the support of cutting-edge shelter magazines such as Dwell (http://www.dwellmag.com/) and new building technologies, a slew of cheap, beautiful, sturdy, and highly customizable prefab housing designs are being created - even ones that are made for urban settings.

The Porch House

The Glide House

These projects are perfect for Hawaii - they are low-cost, replaceable, expandible/evolveable, tough, and designed beautifully with a sense of environment. A number of them incorporate environmentally-conscious building materials and methods. "Urban change requires vision"

"Building modernism on a pre-fab budget"

"Co-housing brings neighbors closer"

Hawaii construction and typical apartment developments use a lot of concrete, a material that John Lautner considered "most desireable" for his needs. But these developments often end up being blocky and oppressive, instead of the light, flowing, organic constructions that Lautner made.

Looking at the other side of the world, here's an overview of China's recent massive architectural works: "...the building boom sweeping over China has no precedent in human history." They're using over 54% of the world's concrete, 36% of the world's steel, and 30% of the world's coal:

March 29 to April 5, 2004

Ever wonder why so many business majors think Microsoft invented computing? A study of eight textbooks reveals total ignorance of the role of Unix in business...

Robert Cringely argues that in the end anti-trust laws are ineffective when in comes to Microsoft, since they actually end up saving money by being non-compliant with government regulations...

Microsoft reports that 16 million PCs were affected by the recent MSBlast virus, ten times more than previously thought...

"Spreadsheets: 25 Years in a Cell"

Here's a story by a woman who used a spreadsheet to tally all the things about her ex-lover...

Newsmap, an interesting way to visually show news. Not sure if it's useful, but it is kind of pretty...

"Dogs do resemble their owners, finds study"

March 22 to 28, 2004

"Free Culture"

"Ghost Town" - notes from the dead zone This was actually popular a month or two ago, but it was so popular the site was taken down. A beautiful, epic pictorial essay from a Russian woman who reports on her rides through the Chernobyl "dead zone" from her 147hp Kawasaki Ninja, equipped with dosimeter. If you've ever seen the brilliant movie "Stalker", this is it in real life - abandoned projects, hotels with trees in the rooms, and rusted tanks in the middle of fields...

March 15 to 21, 2004

Well, this is really late but I've been busy developing the Web site for Soullenz Gallery - check it out...

Although silly bills are introduced all the time, this one's a whopper: "To allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court"

This was pretty popular - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld caught red-handed on TV lying about one of his statements regarding Iraq...

"Shocking" videos of closed-door meetings show Diebold (electronic voting machines manufacturer) representatives mention that data gets lost, machines are not certified, and that things generally just don't always work...

A Diebold (Windows-based) ATM crashes and gives everyone free access...

March 8 to 14, 2004

Preventable deaths from obesity are overtaking tobacco - this was a pretty big news item last week...

But I always enjoy the European take on these news items - "Fat of the land is killing more Americans than cigarettes"...

And remember one of the core facts of human nature (now scientifically proved) - when people are presented with more, they will take more, consciously or not...

...so here's a pill that allows you to do it - it speeds weight loss and helps smokers kick the habit at once...

Those who do not learn from history... The amazing Lawrence Lessig wrote a nice piece on how Hollywood, radio, cable TV, and the music industries were all born from content piracy...

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) is suing the FCC on "overbroad regulation of next-generation televisions and related devices". Left unchallenged, anything you watch on TV or computers in the future cannot be copied without express permission...

It's officially true! Thanks to confirmation from China's first astronaut, you CANNOT see the Great Wall from space!

March 1 to 7, 2004

Heard of SCO, that company that's suing Linux users? According to an acknowledged memo, Microsoft may be funding them to the tune of $86 million... but it is clear that Microsoft wishes to fund SCO through private investments in public companies...

An influential Washington policy group released a report stating that the entertainment industry's pursuit of anti-piracy laws is bad for business and for the economy...

How I Lost The Big One

A network map of political books based on purchase patterns from major Web-based book retailers. It shows a great division in thinking... you could use this same sort of analysis to visually study political issues as well as buying patterns...

Sparklines - a great way of compressing information, from Edward Tufte's upcoming book Beautiful Evidence...

Nifty animations of typography set to music...

A great interview with Eugene Jarvis, the legendary creator of such video games as "Defender" and "Robotron"...

Did you know that Jerry Garcia, Django Reinhardt, and Tony Iommi all had missing or damaged fingers?

February 23 to 29, 2004

Congratulations! You may be a content provider! "Nearly half of U.S. Internet users have built Web pages, posted photos, written comments or otherwise added to the enormous variety of material available online, according to a report released on Sunday." Too bad it's still so difficult - Web fonts suck, standards are flouted, cross-platform pages are hard to make, nonsensical patents abound, and intellectual property law is a minefield...

The cat's out of the bag: the first decent mainstream article on the brilliant BitTorrent, the file sharing network that "makes trading movies a breeze". As well as gigabytes of other stuff as well...

This has been pretty popular, but for those who don't know... DJ Danger Mouse released the critically acclaimed "The Grey Album", a remix of rap vocals and the Beatles' White Album. EMI demands a halt to sales, hundreds of sites protest with grey backgrounds, 100,000 download the album online...

"Implicit Structure and the Dynamics of Blogspace"

Video game studies are making their way into college curricula - what is their form and impact on culture? What is a game?

"Game Development: Harder Than You Think"

Summarize a novel in 25 words (or less)... "The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien: Little guys go to a lot of trouble to get rid of stolen jewelry."

February 16 to 22, 2004

Hoo boy, lots of news this week. You heard it here first, folks! Leaked Pentagon report warns climate change may bring famine, war "LONDON (AFP) - A secret report prepared by the Pentagon warns that climate change may lead to global catastrophe costing millions of lives and is a far greater threat than terrorism."

Exposure To Low-level Magnetic Fields Causes DNA Damage

Got a Windows PC? Be afraid. Be very afraid. Thanks to the recent Windows code leak, this security vulnerability has been found - if you're running Explorer version 5, simply loading a certain image can wreak complete havoc on your machine...

Got a Mac? Hallelujah!

Add wireless to your business! At Schlotzsky's in Texas, a survey finds that more than 40 percent of customers say that free wireless access is a factor in choosing the restaurant to dine at...

And get a flat panel display too! They're more environmentally friendly... Flat panels to outpace CRTs in 2004

February 9 to 15, 2004

For Valentine's Day, another fascinating "science and love" article - "Scientists are finding that, after all, love really is down to a chemical addiction between people"...

The SPAMmobile hits Hawaii for the first time: "It's like God has landed on the earth," a local man said, shaking my hand, taking in the glory of the SPAMmobile. "I promised myself I wouldn't cry."

"Land sale shutters city�s vision of urban renewal"

February 2 to 8, 2004

Let's start with some fun stuff this week! This French performer attaches dozens of horns to his jumpsuit and proceeds to play classical music...

A new art form! Combine caroling with shouting - and you have this Finnish group of men that wears black suits with ties made of car tires...

"A New Kind of Science", a 900-page book on how complex systems can rise from the most basic rules, now can be browsed online for free...

The image of Buddha, automatically generated by a simple mathematical algorithm that plots points on the real and imaginary planes...

January 26 to February 1, 2004

Well, the last week has been short on news, due to my being stuck in California at a crappy hotel - Crowne Plaza - the toilet's broken, the hot/cold faucets are reversed, the vending machine doesn't work, and worst of all there is no network access outside of a broken (unconfigured) Lucent wireless access point in the lobby which I would mess around with if I had the time. Anyway...

China Tightens Web Control

"UH to host world conference on future of Internet"

Yet another serious flaw in Microsoft software that may not even be fixable...

News on "The Corporation" - which analyzes the institution known as the corporation as if it were the person that it legally is. The analysis? It "fully meets the diagnostic criteria of a psychopath"...

"Stress Epidemic Strikes American Forces In Iraq"...

"Philips unit unveils "rollable" displays"...

"The New Face of the Silicon Age - How India became the capital of the computing revolution"

"Wireless Cable TV In The Works"...

You may have read the articles I mentioned about the rise of "cyberbullies" in school - well, it's gone international...

"Scientist Create New Form of Matter"...

January 19 to 25, 2004

A filmmaker decides to make a documentary - he'll eat nothing but McDonald's food 3 times a day for 30 days. The result? 25 more pounds, liver toxicity, high cholesterol, headaches, depression, and vomiting...

Along similar lines, the Frito-Lay corporation would like to substitute one of the "food pyramid" groups with its products...

"Free Wireless Everywhere"

The Dutchtub, a plastic outdoor hot tub that requires no electricity, plumbing, or hot water. Faster and easier setup than a wood-fire tub...

Beautiful photographs of polluted industrial sites...

This Star Wars fan turned his Honda into an "H-Wing" fighter. It's the best car-to-starship conversion I've ever seen...

An aspiring filmmaker made a splash at Sundance with the first feature-length film ever made with nothing but iMovie. Total cost of the production: $218.

"Study confirms sleep essential for creativity"...

Here's a look at one of the hearts of the Internet - the Network Operations Center hosting one of the dozen or so class A root servers that exist around the globe - if these machines went down, everything would go down!

Amazon.com now allows you to contribute funds to presidential candidates with the ease of 1-click shopping...

"Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media"...

January 12 to 18, 2004

Finally, Verizon announces that it will convert its entire nationwide telecommunications network to packet switching, "the protocol on which the Internet runs". This, over 40 years after AT&T nay-sayers said that it couldn't be done...

"New anti-spam laws fail to bite"

A new joystick combination fitness machine gives you a real workout...

Talking about workouts, the Powerball wrist exerciser now has a little RPM counter on it, making it even more addicting...

"This experience encapsulated so many benefits about technology that I don�t really know where to begin"

Atoms can be seen and counted with the new SuperSTEM microscope...

A nifty panorama of the Mars landscape...

Cuba cracks down on Internet use...

RipDigital, a company that will digitize your entire CD collection for you, for a fee...

"Experts slam Wal-Mart lockdowns"

The federal government plans to analyze employees' hair, sweat, and saliva as a part of new drug tests...

January 5 to 11, 2004

Well, better late than never... This week's hot topic: globalization and its wacky effects! Bangalore, India now has more high-tech workers than Silicon Valley...

Should we move high-tech jobs overseas? "Economists back tech industry's overseas hiring"...

"I.M.F. Report Says U.S. Deficits Threaten World Economy"

One Sri Lankan's take on globalism and its effect on world cultures (November 2003)...

"Please just tell the Americans to send the garbage closer to my home," pleaded Dishar Jaber, 56, squinting through the one eye he was left with after the Iran-Iraq war. "Then I will be happy."

Here on Oahu, Wallace Theatres (at Restaurant Row) is abandoning its art house movies (sigh)...

"Counterpoint: Downloading Isn�t Stealing"

A behind-the-scenes article on illegal online movie-swapping teams...

"U.S. Teens More Overweight Than Youth In 14 Other Countries"

Burger King customers told: 'You are too fat to have a Whopper'

A great two-piece story on a man trapped in a dead-end job at a customer service call center. "The Phones Don't Stop"

Not Fooling Anybody - a chronicle of bad storefront conversions...

December 29 to January 4, 2004

Happy New Year! Slow news week though.

Did you have champagne over the holidays? Tiny bubbles are better - when picking champagne, look for more, smaller bubbles...

Is the American Dream over? Business Week said so, and so does this article. More proof that the rich are richer and poor are poorer. "The Death of Horatio Alger"...

"The fish that threatened national security"...

"Army Stops Many Soldiers From Quitting"...

December 22 to 28, 2003

Hope everyone had a happy 2003! Kev's News is now six months old. (Obligatory holiday picture link below)...

Lots of end-of-year lists popped up here and there. Here's a few: The 2003 year in pictures, from the San Francisco Chronicle...

"10 Ads America Won't See"

The top 50 singles of 2003 The best not-so mainstream songs from the hip Pitchfork Media...

Favorite antipop CDs of 2003 Tired of mainstream music? How about great jazz/world/folk/acoustic fusion? Highly recommended are David Tanenbaum, Tord Gustavsen, and the Be Good Tanyas. Of course, Richard Thompson is always good as well. Check out the MPEG-4 samples here...

An article about Apple's Jonathan Ives, who designed the iPod, iMac, PowerBook, and lots of other stuff. He just received one of the most prestigious awards for industrial design...

December 15 to 21, 2003

"Goodbye Sunshine"

Your Vote's In Safe Hands (not)...

Like Sex? Don't Live In Texas...

A good interview with the somewhat recently busted Tommy Chong, from Taft Correctional Institution...

The anatomy of a Hawaiian high-tech news item This year, a UH-Manoa researcher working with international collaborators discovered a new unknown subatomic particle, called X(3872)...

Big news, huh? Here's how it got around...

December 8 to 14, 2003

Whoo boy, lots of new stuff in the world lately. Guess I'll just jump in...

Why should you vote, if...

Why don't we just do what Canada does?

December 1 to 7, 2003

Are you a "pack rat"? "Facing jail because his house is filled to the brim, a hoarder finds hope in a woman with a talent for organizing"

The woman who claimed to be trampled at Wal-Mart after Thanksgiving has been found to have filed 16 previous claims from various businesses...

How Michael Jackson would have looked without the plastic surgery...

November 24 to 30, 2003

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving... In honor, here's an article about why today's mass-produced turkeys taste so bland...

Some Thanksgiving sale goodness-this one made all the papers: "Woman knocked unconscious by trampling shoppers" ...and this happened at a Wal-Mart Supercenter...

"Congress Expands FBI spying Power"

"FBI Scrutinizes Antiwar Rallies"

A nonviolent protester is "hogtied and abused" at Fort Benning...

I didn't think Michael Jackson could look worse... (picture)

Have you ever wanted your own Death Ray? Check out the commercial at Brotron Labs!

Abercromie & Fitch got in hot, steamy water last week for their R- and X- rated clothing catalog. Their first sweater doesn't show up until page 122. The people in their catalog aren't wearing clothes, and the clothes in their catalog aren't worn by people...

"My First DNA Sequencer"

New labels for fruit change color as the fruit ripens...

November 17 to 23, 2003

Kev's news is now using a mailing list program, which means that people can subscribe and unsubscribe automatically, all from...

Those in Hawaii can now use the Forward Foundation's calendar to publicize events related to the arts, culture, technology, and environment at...

Craigslist Honolulu is up and running! Tell everybody to use it!

We now return you to our weekly broadcast. Lots of new science/tech this week for some reason... Things got a little heated in London...

Austism, its role in genius, and the latest theories about the disorder...

Aging Baby Boomers are turning to human growth hormone...

The rise of cyber-bullies at school...

The rise of informal iPod sharing...

A new unexplainable sub-atomic particle has been found...

Pebble Bed Modular Reactors may be the future of nuclear power, as their design eliminates the possibility of a meltdown...

Organic Light-Emitting Diodes, the Next Big Thing in display technology (a nice overview if you're not familiar)...

The amazing 3D street art of Kurt Wenner...

"Technion scores nanotechnology breakthrough"

The first genetically engineered pet goes on sale - glow-in-the-dark fish (called GloFish)...

In Rolling Stone, Robert F. Kennedy wrote a nice article on Bush and his attack on the environment...

For those designers out there: Real client quotes from Web designers back at the height of the dot-com craze (yes, these stories are true)...

November 10 to 16, 2003

A study of the Web sites of the ten presidential candidates found that most violated speed and accessibility guidelines. The worst offender with the most code-bloated, inefficient, inaccessible Web site? Dennis Kucinich...

People will do anything to get into the U.S.... (From September 2001)

A new study of love confirms that the brain patterns made when people first fall in love are the same one gets when eating chocolate...

Mark Morford of the San Francisco Chronicle has always been a great columnist, but this column in particular shows him at his best.

Bill Moyer gave a passionate speech on media reform...

People are increasingly naming their kids after brand names. In 2000, almost 300 girls were named Armani...

On Kauai, the Navy wants 6,000 more acres of land...

An interview with Gore Vidal about his latest book on the Founding Fathers and what they would have done to Bush...

"Who are they and what do they want?"

"Playlistism"

Some popular news stories: Scientists have created the first artificial virus (and it reproduces)...

November 3 to 9, 2003

Kev's News: No matter what happens, there it is! Did you know that this is the Year of the Hawaiian Forest? In honor, here's a picture from last week of what they're replacing the forests with...

A few medical breakthroughs last week you may have read about... "Liquid drano for arteries"...

Unlike the U.S., Australians "do e-voting right" by opening up the software running their voting systems to public scrutiny...

"Music fans in the US are buying almost twice as many singles in digital form over the internet as they are on CDs from stores, according to a report"...

The Worst Album Covers Ever

Everything that Wired Magazine has called "a thing of the past"...

Will noisy, hot computers be a thing of the past? Electricity leakage is why current microchips (and therefore your computer) runs hot, requires fans, and contributes to the entropy of the universe. Intel claims it has solved this problem...

Forbes did a multi-part series on "The New Cash Crop" - marijuana! This series also profiles a Tokyo store that sells ayahuasca for "$70 a dose"...

The home of New Society publishers, a great publisher of books on sustainable living...

The world's first disposable cellular phone just hit the market. It comes with 60 minutes of prepaid time, its own phone number, and you can add more minutes as needed...

Scientists are now visiting "traditional herbalists" in search of breakthrough drugs.

October 27 to November 2, 2003

Quote of the week: "If voting could really change things, it would be illegal." -- Revolution Books, New York, NY Feel safe? Last week was "Protection From Pornography Week"...

"New switching rules may trash millions of cell phones"

Obesity is THE worst killer in the U.S.

The first optical processor, which computes at the speed of light...

Infrared light heals wounds/boosts immunity, but nobody knows why...

Open Source Everywhere

"Why Those Young Men Aren�t Watching TV Anymore"

"Arsonist Burns Peace Activists' Home"

The Day the Music Died

Why Forest Management Exacerbates Loss of Lives and Property

"From Native Hawaiian to Native American?"

October 27, 2003

Kev's News: None of the news you want to hear, all the news you need to hear! Electricity from water The first new method of generating electricity in 150 years...

Sanyo is making corn-derived biodegradable CDs - they'll hit stores in December. Much better for landfills. They degrade after 50-100 years...

Morgan has provided this link to Reverend Billy and his hilarious nonviolent protest against Wal-Mart (and a good idea too)...

The rise of underground restaurants...

Next year public, free globally connected 10-foot high 24-hour cylindrical videoconferencing portals will be set up in major cities...

Are you a natural networker? Some people are natural "connectors" - in social networks, the important people aren't necessarily who you know, but who you vaguely know...

"How I Met My Wife" - a mind-blowing play on words...

Like facts? The 2002 State of Hawaii Fact Book is now online...

"Senate votes for tough limits on spam"

A school has begun tracking students with RFID devices, the first known school to identify and track its children. Good? Bad?

Coming in January from Sony, the world's smallest five-megapixel camera...

More evidence that the Arctic region is warming up...

ChevronTexaco and Ecuador

PDA screens are getting pretty high-resolution these days (picture)...

The Military and Makua

The fires in Southern California as seen from space (picture)...

October 20, 2003

This week was Marriage Protection Week! In honor, here's an article about how only 50.7% of America is actually married: "Unmarried America"

I should get into this business... "Execs who are tech dummies seek secret training"

Some interesting facts about Wal-Mart, which is making a push to open hundreds of new "supercenters"...

A summary of the launch of iTunes for Windows this week...

Today's modern kids comment on vintage video games - Pong, Donkey Kong, Handheld Football, Tetris, Space Invaders, and more... Niko: Hey�Pong. My parents played this game. Brian: It takes this whole console just to do Pong? Kirk: What is this? [Picks up and twists the paddle controller] Am I controlling the volume?

Finally, on an artistic note, beautiful painterly abstract photos taken from the sides of boxcars...

October 14, 2003

The world's first motorized surfboard This is quite a revolutionary device - it's to surfing what snowboards are to skiing. This August it won approval for U.S. distribution after a 16-year development process. It can be used like a normal surfboard, and you can turn on the engine while surfing at any time. No more having to paddle out to waves, and you can do tricks with it like a skateboard on water...

Here's a good article on the engineering and development of the Powerski...

"Answers Please, Mr Bush"

"Software Brings Cellular Capacity To Rural Communities"

Spread of AIDS among Young �A Global Catastrophe�...

Like used CDs? "The Top 50 Most Common Used CDs" Also, if you like to stay on the cutting edge of music, Pitchfork Media is a good place to check out from time to time...

"New Disney Space Ride So Real It's Sickening"

A great, great explanation of how this nation's electrical grid works, why more large-scale blackouts are predicted, the effects of deregulation, and yet another example of capitalism ignoring physics, resulting in dangerous consequences, social inequity, and roadblocks to progress...

"When big media gets bigger"

The Beginning of the End of the Internet?

Homeland Defense employee has his German fiance detained, handcuffed, jailed, and after 20 hours without food, shipped back to Germany, without being officially arrested, a la "The Patriot Act"...

Finally, on a lighter note, a partial Latin translation of Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back": "Large buttocks are pleasing to me, nor am I able to lie concerning this matter."

October 6, 2003

I was thinking about replacing my old Devo costume for Halloween and decided to see what was out there on the Web. A store with a very good selection is Halloween Mart, with decent prices as well. Haven't bought anything from them yet...

"Girl, 5, makes bong in class"

"Study: Orangutans may die out in 20 years"

The death of the laser show: birth of the new psychedelics? The American Museum of Natural History started a new sound and light show using computer graphics called SonicVision. It's a 35-minute movie projected onto a spherical roof 75 feet in diameter (6,550 square feet). Some details...

"3G Mobile Signals Can Cause Nausea, Headache"

Dating and mating for over-35s: love goes corporate

"Discovery may spur cheap solar power"

"The Incredible Shrinking Studio"

"So you wanna fake being an indie rock expert?"

September 30, 2003

Powers of 10

Sales of phonecams have surpassed that of digital cameras...

"A prototype digital video system producing images of such high quality that the human eye struggles to distinguish them from reality has been developed by Japanese engineers"

The student who ate only wild foods for 80 days in suburbia...

The most phallic building in the world and more...

You heard it here first folks. Windows is indeed a threat to national security...

The RIAA withdrew one of their suits due to mistaken identity - This Mac-using grandma was liable for $300 million for stealing songs by artists such as the rapper "Trick Daddy"...

"How to Deal with the Lies and the Lying Liars When They Lie about 'Bowling for Columbine'"

This is a pretty funny design. Sorry.

YEAH! Swedish band postcards!

A Jurassic-age plant once thought extinct has been discovered, cultivated, and commercialized...

SkyHigh Airlines!

September 22, 2003

Spam! This is the best visual representation I've seen...

The worst jobs in science. Really.

Howard Levy, harmonica player extrordinaire...

All about the best slot machine cheater ever...

"MP3s Are Not the Devil"

One local columnist is wondering about his schools switching to Windows from Mac...

This has been popular this week: Al Franken's Supply-Side Jesus!

About Stefanie Nagorka, who makes spontaneous sculptures in Home Depot aisles wihout permission...

"The Revenge of the Copyright Cops"

Some young teens attitudes towards file sharing. Good take on the state of the next generation...

Invisible always-on cameras in glasses, brought to you by HP: (it does have an off switch, however)

"'Pristine' Amazon boasted large cities"

September 15, 2003

The importance of dreaming for the future Why are people retreating to past fantasy instead of thinking forward? Humanity's perception of the future indeed shapes its present. Recent Hugo award winner Spider Robinson speaks out...

Strange tiles have been sighted in over 100 different places around the world, created by an unknown artist. They reference Arnold Toynbee, who believed that "humanity's perception of its history shapes its future"...

Computer visionary Stafford Beer coined the term "shareware". He also invented Cybersyn, an Internet-like socialist computer system created for the revolutionary Chilean government in the early 1970's. The government was overthrown by the CIA, and nothing has quite existed like it as of yet...

The iTunes music store just sold its 10 millionth song! Yay!

Ever eaten General Tso's chicken? Well, here's everything you wanted to know about General Tso and his dish...

"12-Year-Old Sued for Music Downloading (by RIAA)"

Of all people, the Chief Technical Officer of InfoWorld (long a Windows/UNIX-oriented publication) has moved to a Mac and wrote two articles about the experience... "It just works... an option that's enterprise-worthy"

The optical illusions page from Japan has been greatly expanded. WARNING: may cause headaches or discomfort!

September 8, 2003

Whew, lots of interesting things this week popped up...

"Don't Rely On Microsoft, Trade Group Urges Homeland Security"

"Failing at Living"

Sick On The Inside

According to "youth marketing experts", Apple is one of the coolest, popular brands among teenagers (even though they're probably using Windows at school)...

American Brandstand

Diamond-cutting robots are on the rise! Contrast with the recent progress made in synthetic diamond tech (see the recent Wired) and you'll see how the entire industry could be completely automated in a few years...

"Keepers of the Magic Kingdom"

The Global Rich List

Ever see that movie "Blast From The Past", about a man who spent 35 years in a nuclear fallout shelter built by his dad?

California candidates are given the Voight-Kampff test from Blade Runner, to see which ones are replicants. This is hilarious!

In some developing countries counterfeits are of better quality than the real thing...

The best article so far on the Aquada, the first amphibious sports car that actually looks sporty...

India's struggles with genetically modified crops...

Thanks to the human genome project, researchers are pioneering the field of ionomics, the study of how genes regulate ions. That can lead to plants that soak up heavy metals...

Visionary architect Eugene Tsui Why generic "modernism" is a plague, and how to design a humane future: "Look at a box-shaped house - it wastes so much space and so much material, it is structurally weak and prone to the elements, it is psychologically and emotionally demoralizing because it is so contrary to the way that we, humans, are created."

September 2, 2003

LEDs and the future of the light bulb: "If the world switches over to LEDs rapidly enough, it could obviate the need to build more than 100 power plants between now and 2020"

Probe into 'bullying' of GM panel scientists

The incredible story of an Estonian man who lived in the forest for eight years evading the Soviets...

The Ungreening of America, a special report by Mother Jones...

"Urban Sprawl Makes Americans Fat, Study Finds"

George Vlosich, Etch-a-Sketch(tm) master...

"Farewell America"

Japanese Ping-Pong meets the Matrix meets performance art...

"Japan, China, Korea may develop Windows replacement"

August 25, 2003

Promising biomass-based power generation technology "Fueled by sawdust pellets, corncobs or coconut shells, BioMax generates electricity for rural towns, businesses"

Ocean Sponge May Be Best for Fiber Optics

Disney is laying off its traditional 2D animators, opting instead to only do 3D (computer generated) animated films from now on. A passing of an era...

Rockin' on without Microsoft This is the best, no-nonsense, pragmatic, pro-business view of one CEO who removed every bit of Microsoft software from his company. If you're still using Windows in your business, this may make you question your assumptions.

The winners in nerve.com's pickup line contest, successfully used lines, and miserable failures!

2003 Ozone Hole May Be Record Size, Australia Says

EPA to ease air pollution rules for maintaining coal-burning power plants

Affected by the recent computer viruses? The solution: 1) Don't use Outlook. 2) Don't use Windows. I just spent a couple hours cleaning up a friend's infected Windows machine this week. In over 15 years of heavy Mac/UNIX use, I've only been infected with one virus, and I've never had to use antivirus software (yes, this is biased)... "OS X defies viruses"

Here's exactly why Windows systems are insecure (and why Apple's and other systems are secure) by default: "Microsoft Windows: Insecure by Design"

By the way: If you are using Apple's Mail application, the virus emails will be automatically marked as junk and sent to your junk mail folder. Apple Mail has the best spam detection/removal of any mail program I've ever seen (and I've installed/used many, on many platforms). A few organizations heavily infected/disabled by the recent Windows virii, Blaster, Welchia/Nachi, and Sobig (the world's fastest growing computer virus) in the last two weeks...

August 12, 2003

Slow news week. Most of the new good stuff popped up today. This week's theme: trends on the edge of culture.

FOX News apparently owns the trademark to the phrase "Fair and Balanced". We'll see if it holds up in court...

This has been making the rounds... you know you want one...

Octopus Camouflage

Bastard Pop

Flash Mobs

Potential Date Alerts

Documented Life

August 4, 2003

This week's theme: techniques for separating the wheat from the chaff and the signal from the noise. Much confusion arises from people not being able to see the difference between the theory or expectation of a thing and how things really are... this paper appears to clarify: Ground-breaking work in understanding of time "A bold paper which has highly impressed some of the world's top physicists and been published... seems set to change the way we think about the nature of time"

Why information design is important...

Why graphic design (and choosing the right font) is important:

This is a great article which points out...

We'll be seeing more good and bad uses of cell phone cams in the future...

It is official U.S. policy to encourage people to buy larger, less efficient cars: "The Senate rejected a proposal to require a sharp increase in automobile fuel economy Tuesday after concerns were raised that it would lead to a loss of auto industry jobs and limit consumer's ability to buy larger cars and SUVs."

July 28, 2003

When nothing gets done in groups the way people want that's perhaps more often due to an inability to manage agreement than manage conflict - read about the Abilene Paradox...

"Billion Dollar Plan In Limbo"

There are now over 2 million people in U.S. prisons, one for every 143 citizens...

Thanks to 10,000 years of selective breeding by humans, bananas will vanish forever in a decade...

Another case for biodiversity in everyday life: "Tree-Eating Beetle Poses Threat In U.S."

It's scientifically proven than Kansas is flatter than a pancake...

Finally, technology has brought us virtual bubble wrap!

The Star Wars Kid's parents sue...

July 21, 2003

"Discontented Americans Consider Canada"

Animals can be pretty intelligent (watch the crow movie)...

When 70% of a population of 11 million have high-speed net access, how does that affect the culture? Here's how it's affecting Korea...

Reading the wrong thing in public gets man in trouble with the FBI...

Just released last month, Second Life is perhaps the closest thing to wide-scale cyberspace today. A journalist is covering its own culture as it evolves...

Status report: there have been almost 7 million hits on the Star Wars Kid page, 38 cloned videos, and 3 more currently in the making. Hopefully people will scrape up enough to buy him an iBook (up to $1500 so far)...

"Money!"

I'm sure you've seen this satire already...

...I'm really tempted to write a program that automatically generates your own Nigerian Email Scam Letter, but I don't think my server could handle the bandwidth.

July 16, 2003

"Why," you may wonder, "are you sending me email like this, Kev?" you may ask. I say: because you have a committed interest in keeping the world from being absolutely mediocre. Therefore and unfortunately I feel that it is my mission to let you know about the latest news from the world regarding the most cutting edge techno-enviro-culture zaniness. I found a link to the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players today. They are a traveling family road show whose 9-year old daughter is the drummer, and they create and sing pop songs to old slides from the 50's to 70's while mom mans the slide projector. Their creations are hilarious to the point of being subversive. Rather than explain further, view this from NPR: Click on the "Watch a multimedia slideshow..." link. You may need Real Player for this.

The Austin Chronicle has a funny review here...

But perhaps the best commentary is from David Cross, who manages to skewer American "culture" at the same time...

Also, the 2003 winners of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, which celebrates the world's worst writing:

July 14, 2003

Yes, you need to know about Mr. Winkle. He's the sensation that's sweeping the nation:

So what does Mr. Winkle look like? See:

July 10, 2003

Here's one of the better articles on CTS that I've read...

"This is coming whether we like it or not," said Jim Lewis, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "It's not how do we stop the tidal wave. It's how do we manage it." Also, if you have iChat AV on your Mac, sign up for an account. It's free and painless, and then we could chat via audio or video at any time. Download iChat AV at...

With iChat, Who Needs a Phone? Apple's latest tech wizardry makes voice calling over the Net a snap. That could be a push off a cliff for today's telecom giants

July 8, 2003

For his thesis, Sean Gorman made an interactive program to identify power, Internet, and phone networks throughout the U.S. On a map you can select any company and see exactly what network wires to snip where to disable it. You can also see how interdependent different companies are. The government has described it as "a cookbook of how to exploit the vulnerabilities of our nation's infrastructure." All of this information was obtained from public records.

...reminds me of the grad student many years ago that built his own atom bomb...

If you don't know what RFID is, read here first:

I can't provide a link to this information since the sites in question are undergoing heavy traffic. So the text is below.

July 7, 2003

An article on Estonia, where Internet access was declared a fundamental human right by law...

July 3, 2003

...here's a full 360-degree panorama...

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=421166