WIDGETS POWER

Tofu Burgers

2010-08-10T22:48:00.000-07:00

Spiced Tomato Gratin

2010-08-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

Twitter Launching Official Tweet Buttons This Week [EXCLUSIVE]

2010-08-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

More Details: The Tweet Button

How to Embed a Tweet Button

Reviews: Mashable, Tweetmeme, Twitter

More About: breaking, trending, tweetmeme, twitter, Twitter Button

10 Free Wireframing Tools for Designers

2010-07-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

Good News!...

10 Free Wireframing Tools for Designers: "

This series is supported by Ben & Jerry’s Joe, Ben & Jerry’s new line-up of Fair Trade and frozen iced coffee drinks. Learn more about it here.

Wireframing is a crucial step in web design and development as it allows for rapid prototyping and helps to pinpoint potential problems early in the process. It can be invaluable to have a visual representation of content, hierarchy and layout.

Wireframes make it easier to communicate ideas, reduce scope creep, cut down on project costs (due to fewer design revisions later), and enable greater upfront usability and functionality testing.

This post highlights 10 of the best free wireframing tools available, including standalone applications, web-based tools and browser add-ons.

If you’re partial to a particular wireframing tool available for free download, let us know in the comments.

1. Mockingbird

Mockingbird is a web-based beta software based on the Cappuccino framework to create, link together, preview and share wireframes of your website or application.

It’s a clean and user-friendly interface, with drag and drop UI, interactive page linking, smart text resizing and the ability to easily share mockups with clients or colleagues with a direct link, make Mockingbird one of the best wireframe tools available.

As it’s web-based, it means you can create and share mockups from anywhere. It will be interesting to see just how good Mockingbird is when it comes out of beta and the full version is released.

2. Lovely Charts

Lovely Charts is an online diagramming application, that allows you to create flowcharts, sitemaps, organization charts and wireframes.

One of the key features is the application’s ability to make assumptions based on the type of diagram you’re drawing, and thus streamline the drawing process. The History management feature is extremely useful, keeping 20 states of your diagram in memory should you wish to go back to an earlier version or undo any changes.

There is a powerful yet simple tool set provided, with an extensive library of crafted symbols to suit most requirements.

3. Cacoo

Cacoo is a user-friendly online drawing tool that allows you to create a variety of diagrams, such as sitemaps, wireframes and network charts.

The drag and drop UI means creating diagrams is relatively simple; there are also a number of stencils to utilize which could make the process even more efficient. Unlimited Undo is a neat feature with the history of all modifications saved, meaning you can undo right back to the start.

Numerous users can also work on and complete the same diagram simultaneously with the application supporting real-time collaboration.

4. Gliffy

Gliffy is a web-based application which allows you to create process flow diagrams, org charts, floor plans, business processes, network diagrams, technical drawings, website wireframes, and more. It uses a drag and drop UI with the ability to add boxes, buttons, and lines from the tool shape library to anywhere on the page. Then you can easily add text to create a clear, concise mockup.

You have access to a complete library of shapes and can even import your own images, like logos and backgrounds, to complement your diagrams. You can share and collaborate with anyone, on any platform, in any location, while having the ability to protect and track changes.

The Gliffy API (beta) also makes it possible for developers to add Gliffy diagramming features to their existing web-based applications based on a simple to use framework.

5. Lumzy

Lumzy is a mockup and prototype creation tool for websites and applications. You can add events to controls, place controls inside other containers and emulate your project with easy page navigation triggered by user actions.

Real-time collaboration is one of the key features, with tools for team editing, a chat engine for deliberating over designs and file versioning. Lumzy is also the only mockup tool with a real image editor built-in — simply grab any picture from your drive and edit it, apply hue, saturation, adjust contrast, and so on, and then add it to your project.

The Pro version is white label and can be integrated into an existing platform or hosted on your own server which may be of interest to companies working with confidential information.

6. Mockflow

Mockflow is a web app based on the Adobe Flash Platform. It has a clean, minimalistic, organized interface and the editing feature-set set is extensive.

You drag and drop components into a mockup to create the wireframe with the ability to add pages and map out an entire site and it’s structure. The built-in components are extensive, from charts and ads to menus and dropdowns. The ability to upload your own images to use, as well as the option to choose from a set of stickers of common site elements, such as social networking and e-commerce images, make the process of ‘building’ the mockup pretty efficient.

You can talk over the real-time chat and invite others as editors or viewers, depending on the level of editorial power you’d like each member to have. Editors have the ability to make changes to the wireframes, while viewers are limited to reviewing and commenting.

The MockStore is a wonderful add-on service that provides third party components and templates shared by the user community.

7. Pencil Project

The Pencil Project is an open source tool for making diagrams and GUI prototyping that everyone can use. It’s available as a Firefox add-on or as a standalone application (Linux and Windows only). Pencil essentially installs an entire drawing application into your Firefox browser and gives you the ability to display, save, and load an external canvas, together with a palette of shapes.

Of interest is the Stencil Generator which allows you to create your own collection of stencil shapes by pointing the generator to a folder of image files. The Clipart tool lets you search through the library at openclipart.org and directly drop the images right into your Pencil document. Pencil also supports the use of external objects; both raster and vector images can be imported using copy-paste or drag and drop.

The final prototype can be exported as a PNG image, web page, OpenOffice file, PDF or DOC file. If you’re a dedicated Firefox user, then Pencil could be an essential tool for visually expressing conceptual ideas on the fly. It even won the Mozilla award for ‘Best New Add-On’ in 2008.

8. SimpleDiagrams

SimpleDiagrams is a small desktop application that helps you express your ideas quickly and simply with just enough functionality to describe a thought or capture a process. It’s built on the Adobe AIR platform, so will run smoothly on Mac, Windows and Linux.

You can drag, drop and size symbols from libraries, add photos and post-notes and export your diagram to PNG.

It may not be a fully-fledged diagramming tool, but because SimpleDiagrams is so basic, you will be creating wireframes or diagrams within minutes.

9. Denim

Denim is a free multi-platform desktop app that supports sketching and allows design at various refinement levels. It’s an efficient tool for early stage brainstorming and wireframing.

Two main features within Denim are Components, which enable you to create widgets that can be reused and Conditionals, which allow you to create transitions between pages depending on the end-users’ actions, resulting in a more interactive experience.

It’s a simple yet effective tool and allows for easy annotation using editing gestures.

10. Website Wireframe

Website Wireframe is a very simple web-based tool for building wireframes in a matter of minutes. A link to view the wireframe can be sent through email, instant message, or mobile phone, and then the wireframe can be easily updated based on feedback, discussion, ideas and suggestions.

The key to this tool is the simplicity of usage, lending itself to speed, both in wireframe creation and sharing. It is free to register and use and works in most modern web browsers.

It may not be particularly sophisticated, however it’s simplicity and efficiency is perfect for those who want an alternative to tools with a higher learning curve.

Are you currently using any of these tools? If so, please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Series supported by Ben & Jerry’s Joe

This series is supported by Ben & Jerry’s Joe, Ben & Jerry’s new line-up of Fair Trade and frozen iced coffee drinks. Learn more about it here.

More About: Cacoo, Denim, Gliffy, Lovely Charts, Lumzy, Mockflow, mockingbird, Pencil Project, Simple Diagrams, web design series, Website Wireframe, wireframe, wireframing

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[PHP 4 Mobile] PHP for Android Project Launched

2010-07-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

Bendable bicycle wraps itself around a pole - by design

2010-07-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

Bendable bicycle wraps itself around a pole - by design: "

Parking your two-wheeler in a shady neighborhood, but left your secondary lock at home? No problem -- to protect your wheels, just bend your bike around a nearby post and thread your U-lock through the whole kit at once. That's the idea behind UK designer Kevin Scott's folding bicycle, which is rigid enough to freely ride, but releases its flexible ratcheting mechanism when you push a lever on the side. The design won the 21-year-old student £500 at the New Designers exhibition in London this week. He's presently looking for partners to help commercialize the concept, which looks more practical than some, so we expect it'll be only a few years before you'll see his creation zipping down the street. One question, though -- why not go the whole nine yards and give it a built-in lock, too?

Bendable bicycle wraps itself around a pole - by design originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Jul 2010 18:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Inhabitat | Daily Mail | Email this | Comments

Network-Enabled Applications using the iPad

2010-07-12T23:05:00.000-07:00

Network-Enabled Applications using the iPad: "

I favorited a YouTube video: The iPad and other mobile devices like it are leading a revolution regarding how people compute on the go and WiFi is key to maintaining network connectivity to the cloud. This video demonstrates three different iPad applications that leverage WiF...

Microsoft Launches Outlook Facebook Integration [Exclusive]

2010-07-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Launches Outlook Facebook Integration [Exclusive]: "

Microsoft is announcing today that it has integrated Facebook and Windows Live Messenger into Outlook, bringing the streams of millions of Facebook users into inboxes across the world.

Last year, Microsoft launched Outlook Social Connector, a plugin that syncs social networking feeds with your Outlook contacts, giving you immediate data on what they are doing and thinking. It started last year with LinkedIn integration, but soon the company announced MySpace and Facebook were coming.

Today, Outlook completes the cycle with not only Facebook integration, but support for Windows Live Messenger as well. Not only that, but the company is releasing the plugin for Outlook 2003 and 2007 users as well, bringing Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and Windows Live Messenger to millions of business and personal inboxes worldwide.

Last week, we got a sneak peek at the new Outlook at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Here’s what you can expect from the new Facebook integration, as well some features that you can expect in the near future:

Facebook + Outlook = Realtime Contact Data

Facebook and Microsoft worked together to get the launch of Facebook’s integration in Outlook Social Connector right. Facebook’s Strategic Partner Manager Rick Armbrust told us that they worked closely with the Office team to make the experience more social. One of the things he immediately highlighted was the pulling of Facebook profile pictures into Outlook.

The entire experience is a step above the Outlook-LinkedIn integration, which itself was pretty strong. Not only does it pull Facebook profile photos so that you can associate a name to a face, but it pulls the news feeds of your contacts into your inbox. When you’re looking at someone’s email, you’ll also get a glance at their status updates, picture uploads and wall posts, among other activities.

When you combine that with LinkedIn, MySpace, Windows Live Messenger, and Outlook data, you get a very detailed history of your interaction with your contacts, as well as an at-a-glance look at their activities and interests. Knowing that a potential client just returned from a trip to Hawaii can be all that you need to have the upper hand against your competition.

Microsoft Group Product Manager Paco Contreras told us that there’s another new feature to the Facebook integration: realtime updates. Thanks to a new update to the social connector platform, also being released today, updates from your contacts will automatically be pushed to your inbox. There’s no need to refresh anything: new Facebook status updates will pop up in realtime within Outlook.

The Facebook integration does have limitations, though: except for friend requests, Outlook can only pull data from Facebook. There is no “liking” posts or updating your status via Outlook, at least right now. Microsoft says that the next step is to provide a richer social experience by integrating the ability to push data to other social networks, improving the look and feel of Outlook Social Connector, and adding other social networks from other regions.

The Social Inbox

Microsoft has known for a while that social technologies are going to dominate the web. That was made evident by its $240 million stake in Facebook and its many partnerships and attempts at social media (some of which have bombed).

However, Outlook Social Connector has always felt like one of the company’s smarter social media plays. Facebook’s Rich Armbrust probably put it best:

“What’s unique is that it’s bringing social elements and context from Facebook form your colleagues and your friends into the Outlook experience, which is pretty unique given that there are so many that use Outlook as their primary communiction tool.”

Email isn’t inherently a “social” experience (it’s not a one-to-many platform), and attempts at integrating social into the inbox (think Google Buzz) have mostly fallen flat. However, social data can be incredibly useful in the business world, especially when you need to understand what your client or colleague is thinking or doing right now. While we’d still love to see Twitter integration in Outlook, Facebook is far larger and, in most cases, has far more useful information.

Microsoft’s also learned a few lessons from the privacy fiascos Facebook and Google have undergone in recent months. Outlook will only pull data from emails connected to Facebook accounts. If your business email isn’t linked to your Facebook, your data stream won’t appear in Outlook Social Connector. It gives users a choice, although most people do choose to add their work emails to Facebook in order to join their company’s Facebook network.

If you want to learn more about the announcement, Microsoft has also released a short video articulating Outlook’s new features:

Facebook Outlook Social Connector Announcement Video

More About: email, facebook, microsoft, microsoft outlook, Outlook, Outlook Social Connector, Windows Live, windows live messenger

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10 Cool Facebook Status Tips and Tricks

2010-07-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

10 Cool Facebook Status Tips and Tricks: "

With Facebook’s ever-changing layout, and the fact that other social sites are encroaching on its real-time update strangle-hold, it’s easy to forget that there are some pretty nifty tricks you can pull using your humble Facebook status.

We’ve pulled together 10 great how-to tips that will help you get the most out of your status update, from official features to apps, Easter eggs, jokes and more.

Perfect for newer Facebook users, or anyone who is looking for a refresher, read on and let us know the ones you like in the comments below.

1. HOW TO: Add a Dislike Option to Your Status Update

“Like” buttons are everywhere on Facebook, and they’re everywhere on the web. But what if you want to update your status or share something that your friends can “dislike?” We know, your friends can choose to “comment” on your post, but where’s the fun in that?

The clever Status Magic Facebook app can add a dislike button to any status updates posted via the app. And if you wanted to really mix it up you can actually customize the second emotion to anything, such as “love,” “hate,” “disagree” or even “LOLs.”

2. HOW TO: Hide Status Updates From Certain People

Using Facebook’s general privacy settings (find these by hitting “account” on the top right of a Facebook page) you can select whether everyone, just friends or friends of friends can see your status updates. However, there is a way to narrow those options down even further.

You can select specific friend lists to see your status (relevant for work, special interest groups, etc.) or even individual people by name, which is useful for anyone organizing a surprise party.

To take advantage of these options, click the padlock icon just below your “what’s on your mind” box on your wall and a drop down menu should appear. Selecting “customize” will bring up more options such as “make this visible to” and “hide from” with the option to make your selection a default.

3. HOW TO: Pre-Schedule Status Updates

While SocialOomph, Sendible and HootSuite offer the same kind of service, the simplest way to schedule Facebook status updates is by using the easy, free Later Bro service.

Just sign in with Facebook Connect, select your time zone, type in what it is you’d like to say, set the calendar and clock to when you’d like to say it, and presto!

4. HOW TO: Tag People in Your Status Updates

This was quite a big deal when it was announced this past September, but from the amount of searches on the topic “how can I make someone’s name go blue in a Facebook status?” it seems it’s not universally known.

To mention someone in a status update just type “@” (a la Twitter) in the status bar and start typing their name as it appears on Facebook. An auto-generated list will then come up with people in your social circle whose name starts with the letters you’ve typed. The feature also works with pages, brands, events and companies.

Hit the name you want, complete the update, click share and the name will become a hyperlink (you won’t see the @ symbol) and will appear in blue text.

5. HOW TO: Add Symbols to Your Facebook Status

Although there are plenty of emoticons that work with Facebook Chat, typing “:)” into Facebook’s status bar will not magically transform into a smiley yellow face. In fact, the only symbol you can create in a Facebook status update through the shortcut keys is a ♥, by typing “<3."

While this won't bother many Facebook users, others more used to punctuating their missives can copy and paste web-happy, universal symbols into the box, as you can see in the screengrab above.

PC users can also access some symbols by hitting “alt” + various number combinations (on a numerical keypad). So, while smileys are yet to hit Facebook statuses, you can annoy or amuse your buddies with symbols right now.

6. HOW TO: Turn Your Status Updates Into a Word Cloud

There’s a really fun way to visualize anyone’s status updates (even an entire country’s) as a word cloud. The Status Analyzer 3D app will look at what it is you’ve been chatting about lately and generate a list, and then a pretty, colorful, animated cloud as pictured above.

You can share the results with others on the social networking site by posting it to your friends’ walls or by adding it to your profile.

7. HOW TO: Have Fun With Facebook’s Humorous Language Options

While you can always change your setting into more sensible alternative languages, the site offers a couple of fun linguistic Easter eggs.

You can chose to have Facebook display upside down English, or, for anyone feeling a little salty, in “pirate.” Pirate essentially turns your status into your “plank,” your attachments into “loot” and instead of “share” it offers the option to “blabber t’ yer mates.”

Sadly, anything you type in the status bar won’t be upside down, or pirate-y. But with the use of some external sites you can achieve the same effect.

TypeUpsideDown.com and UpsideDownText.com are just two examples of sites that can flip your text, while the Talk Like a Pirate Day site can help you with your pirate translations.

8. HOW TO: See Status Updates From Around the World

If you want to get a glimpse of the thoughts of Facebook users from around the world’s, head over to OpenBook.

Created by three San Fran web developers with a serious privacy message in mind, the site aggregates the status updates of everyone whose privacy levels are set to “everyone.”

You can narrow your searchable results down by gender and keywords to find out what people are saying about a certain topic. Or you can just browse the recent searches.

9. HOW TO: See Your Status Update Stats

Have you ever wondered how many times you have updated your status on Facebook? The Facebook app Status Statistics, can tell you this and more.

The app analyzes your updates and gives you a tidy list of how many you’ve written, the average word count and how many times a day you post. In addition, it generates a graph that shows you what time of day or what days of the week you normally update.

Old statuses are also searchable via the app, so you can find that witty retort you made back in November 2009 without having to scroll back through your history.

10. HOW TO: Play a Trick On Your Friends in Your Status Update

We have a funny one to end on — a way to play an amusing trick on your Facebook buddies.

This clever link “http://facebook.com/profile.php?=73322363″ looks like it could be a URL for anyone’s Facebook profile, actually takes anyone logged into Facebook to their own profile page.

If you try it out, be sure to remove the link preview that Facebook auto-ads. Have fun, and don’t be too mean…

More Facebook resources from Mashable

- 9 Fantastic Facebook Pages for Fashion
- HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Facebook
- Facebook Pages vs Facebook Groups: What’s the Difference?
- Killer Facebook Pages: 5 Inspiring Case Studies
- How Charities are #FindingTheGood With Facebook Pages

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, flyparade

Reviews: Facebook, HootSuite, Twitter, iStockphoto

More About: facebook, facebook apps, how to, Lists, status, tips, trending, tricks

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Twitter Tip for Networked Nonprofits: Follow the Few To Get To the Many

2010-07-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

Twitter Tip for Networked Nonprofits: Follow the Few To Get To the Many: "

Source: Valdis Krebs

For the past few years whenever I doing a training or speak about nonprofits and social media and more recently when we’ve presented about the book, The Networked Nonprofit, someone always raises this concern: “Social media is a time suck.”

Networked Nonprofits are not only experts in using social media, but they know how to streamline their work flow often based on an understanding of applying network theory to their practice. One of the best principles I learned was from Valdis Krebs who suggests following fewer people to get to the many in his classic post “So Many People, So Little Time.”

It isn’t about following thousands and thousands of friends on Twitter. We don’t have the time or brain cells for that. It’s about finding people who are connected to different social circles and following them. Of course you have to be interested in what information or conversations they are sharing on Twitter. Identifying these people or what Krebs calls “nodes” is core of social network analysis.

And you need to build some redundancy in your network so you have a few multiple paths to people and ideas of interest to you.

He explains why this approach is efficient:

For the time invested, I want maximum return. I use the redundancy of connections, between the many social circles I am interested in, to my advantage. I follow a select group of people that give me the same access as following someone in every group. Follow the few to reach the many!
Strategically I am building a small, yet efficient, group that reaches out into the many diverse information pools I am interested in. I know I am finding good people to follow on Twitter by the number of great exchanges that emerge on many topics. Think before you follow, use your time and ties wisely!

What if you have been following people without thinking and now have an overloaded Twitter Stream? Here are some tips that help you tame the Twitter lion.

What is most important to find and cultivate the connectors and weavers in communities or topics of interest. There are some free tools that can help you visualize your Twitter network or do quasi social network analysis on Twitter. Here’s a few that I’ve used.

Use Friend or Follow to download a spreadsheet of followers. Sort the information to find people to get to know. This works best if you have small network.

Mr. Tweet finds people in your network you should follow (use this after you have built up your following list).

Mailana can help you identify people who have strong affinity. I wrote about an experiment I did last year using this tool. One problem is that it doesn’t analyze your network in real time. You submit the userid and then have to come back a few days later unless it is already in the database.

Twitalyzer is a terrific analytics tool that gives you some good benchmarking metrics for Twitter. Run the impact report to help you identify influencers.

Twiangulate lets you analyze cross over between your Twitter network and another Twitter user. This can be useful to find potential collaborators.

Klout lets you track the “influence” of specific Twitter users, including the growth of their network, who they influence, and who they are influenced by.

Mention Map helps you visualize who is interacting with you around which hashtags. It shows nodes on your network. There is not information about what exactly how the drawings are created though.

Once you’ve started to identify connectors and people to follow, you’ll need to manage it. Twitter lists can help you create sub-groups of all your followers.

Create Twitter Lists of those accounts, organized by topic or community

Keep the lists small and manageable

Add these lists to your Twitter client and set up a schedule to monitor. This makes the Twitter content feel more grounded, as opposed to just flying by.

Create Twitter searches for keywords to find additional sources. Follow them as needed

Tend to your lists regularly and unfollow people who don’t provide value to you, perhaps people who tweet about things you are not interested in.

If you were stranded on a deserted island, and could only follow 150 people, who would you follow?

Apply a little social networking theory and think before you follow. Ask yourself, if you were stuck on desert island and could only follow 150 people, who would you choose? How many people do you follow and why? How do you manage it?

Google Update: How to Find Old Conversations from Twitter

2010-07-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Google Update: How to Find Old Conversations from Twitter: "

Someone pinged me today asking about how to find an old hashtag conversation on Twitter. Awhile back I would have had to say they were out of luck. But thanks to a deal with Google that was penned earlier this year, older tweets can be found. I found it wasn’t really all that intuitive to use the new Updates Search feature but it does provide hope for the data miner and procrastinator alike.

According to Google, they have Tweets back to February 11, 2010, and this simple search for my Twitter name shows that this is about right. Here is a quick “How to” for finding an old conversation.

How to Use Google Update Search

Go to Google Search
Search for your unique term or hastag, let’s us the #PRStudChat as an example
Once you get the results, go to the MORE dropdown arrow on the left and chose UPDATES (see screenshot below)
After you hit UPDATE, a chart for the current day’s tweets will show. Notice the hyperlinks for the Year and Month . Clicking on any one of these will take you to that view.
You can go back and forth through the timeline using the Guillemets <<>>

How to Find the Google Update Search Feature (#3)

Navigating the Google Updates Search Feature (#4. #5)

If you are looking for a way to get a complete picture of what was said about a particular topic over a period of a few days, it will be a labor intensive endeavor. And traversing through the timeline is not seamless – it is easy to find yourself lost.

And let that be a lesson to you. If you are running a campaign with hashtags, be sure to get your search data in on the spot, or at lease with in seven days. I like What the Hashtag. It is is a great tool to look at recent conversations.

You can usually look up hashtag-led conversation that are up to seven days old there. And I recommend if you are running such a campaign or conversation on Twitter that you add the hashtag to the What the Hashtag database and click on the “View Transcript” (see blow) to get a handy transcript of the session in chronological order. I usually save this screen as a PDF and fire add it to the documentation for any given campaign.

Good stuff!

However, even this service can fall victim to Twitter’s endless API shutdowns and sometimes misses some stuff and it is only available for seven days – again Twitter API limitations. Don’t use it for a contest, for that I would use Real Time Contest. It is currently in closed Beta, but you can hit up Chris Kieff for when he plans to go public.

Tree Museum / Enea Garden Design

2010-06-30T01:15:00.001-07:00

Sent to you by Ray via Google Reader:

Tree Museum / Enea Garden Design

via ArchDaily by David Basulto on 6/24/10

Landscape "artist" Enzo Enea recently completed the Tree Museum in Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland, right next to the brand new headquarters for Enea Garden Design designed by Miami based Oppenheim Architecture + Design (more on that soon!).

The museum includes 50 different species on the site of a 14th century monastery, some of them 130 years old. These have been collected by Enzo himself for the past 17 years, sometimes rescuing trees threatened by construction or urban expansion. The collection includes over 2,000 species on an adjacent 2.5 acre park.

A delicate landscape work, using a series of local sandstone walls which frame the trees and generate zen like spaces to contemplate the beauty of the "exhibit".

More photos after the break.

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"Cãopanheiro"

2010-06-30T01:12:00.003-07:00

Sent to you by Ray via Google Reader:

"Cãopanheiro"

via Bem Legaus! by noreply@blogger.com (ANDRÉ Montejorge) on 6/29/10

Achei muito legal o cãozinho "DIY Doggy". Mistura de luminária de mesa e porta-trecos, ele é o companheiro perfeito para sua mesa, seja em casa seja no trabalho. Outro coisa divertida do pequeno cão é que ele vem em chapas de madeira com partes que precisam ser destacadas e montadas. Parafusos, arruelas e fios acompanham o pacote. Apenas a lâmpada é que fica por sua conta. Com design de David Zhang, ele está à venda, mas não descobri em que lojas do exterior. Se alguém souber, please, coloque nos comentários. "Montavelmente legaus"!

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Introducing IIS Express

2010-06-30T01:12:00.001-07:00

Sent to you by Ray via Google Reader:

Introducing IIS Express

via ScottGu's Blog by ScottGu on 6/28/10

Developers today build and test ASP.NET sites and applications using one of two web-servers:

The ASP.NET Development Server that comes built-into Visual Studio
The IIS Web Server that comes built-into Windows

Both of the above options have their pros and cons, and many ASP.NET developers have told us: "I wish I could have the ease of use of the ASP.NET Development Server, but still have all the power and features of IIS". Today I'm happy to announce a new, free option that we are enabling – IIS Express - that combines the best characteristics of both, and which will make it easier to build and run ASP.NET sites and applications.

IIS Express will work with VS 2010 and Visual Web Developer 2010 Express, will run on Windows XP and higher systems, does not require an administrator account, and does not require any code changes to use. You will be able to take advantage of it with all types of ASP.NET applications, and it enables you to develop using a full IIS 7.x feature-set.

How Things Work Today

Before I get into the details of IIS Express, let's first quickly review how the ASP.NET Development Server and IIS options work today.

ASP.NET Development Server

Visual Studio's built-in ASP.NET Development Server (also known as "Cassini") has the benefit of being light-weight and easy to quickly run. It doesn't listen on remote ports (which makes it easier to get approved for many corporate security environments), works even when you are running under a non-administrator account, and doesn't require a separate installation step.

The fact that it is so easy to get running is a huge positive of it – and the reason it is the default web-server used by ASP.NET projects in Visual Studio when you press F5 to run them:

The downside with the ASP.NET Developer Server, though, is that it does not support a full set of web-server features. For example, it doesn't support SSL, URL Rewriting Rules (like the SEO URL Rewrite Rules I blogged about here), Custom Security Settings, and other richer features now offered with IIS 7.

IIS Web Server

IIS is the other option developers use when running and testing their applications with Visual Studio. You can configure a web project within Visual Studio to use IIS by right-clicking on the project and pulling up its properties (and then by clicking on the "Web" tab within the properties window)":

Using IIS as your development server allows you to take full advantage of all web-server features (SSL, URL Rewrite Rules, etc). IIS is a full-fledged web-server – which means you'll get an experience closer to what it will work like when you deploy the application on a production server.

The downside with using the IIS option today, though, is that some companies don't allow full web-servers to be installed on developer machines. IIS also requires administrator account access to setup and debug projects. Different versions of Windows also support different versions of IIS. For example, if you are running on Windows XP you have to use the IIS 5.1 web-server that comes with it – which doesn't support all the new features of IIS 7.x. Configuring a web project within VS to use IIS also requires some extra installation and configuration steps.

IIS Express – The Best of Both Options

We have been working on a new flavor of IIS 7.x that is optimized for developer scenarios that we are calling "IIS Express". We think it combines the ease of use of the ASP.NET Web Server with the full power of IIS. Specifically:

It's lightweight and easy to install (less than 10Mb download and a super quick install)
It does not require an administrator account to run/debug applications from Visual Studio
It enables a full web-server feature set – including SSL, URL Rewrite, Media Support, and all other IIS 7.x modules
It supports and enables the same extensibility model and web.config file settings that IIS 7.x support
It can be installed side-by-side with the full IIS web server as well as the ASP.NET Development Server (they do not conflict at all)
It works on Windows XP and higher operating systems – giving you a full IIS 7.x developer feature-set on all OS platforms

IIS Express (like the ASP.NET Development Server) can be quickly launched to run a site from a directory on disk. It does not require any registration/configuration steps. This makes it really easy to launch and run for development scenarios.

VS 2010 Integration

We are enabling IIS Express so that it can be easily used with Visual Studio 2010. You'll be able to configure VS 2010 to use it instead of the ASP.NET Web Server as the default web-server on ASP.NET Projects. Like the ASP.NET Development Server today, you won't need to register a site or virtual directory to use IIS Express. It will support the same usage-model as the ASP.NET Development Server today – just with more feature support.

When you press F5 to run an ASP.NET project, Visual Studio can automatically launch IIS Express and use it to run/debug the application (no extra configuration required). Like the ASP.NET Web Server, IIS Express will show up in your task-bar tray when running:

You can right-click and click "exit" on the icon above to quickly shutdown IIS Express. You can also right-click and pull up a list of all sites running with it, as well as the directory location and .NET versions they are running under:

Two cool things to notice above:

1) The "Test Site" we are running, as well as IIS Express itself, live under the c:\users\[username] folder on disk. This enables non-administrator usage of IIS Express and sites – and enables a bunch of scenarios not possible with the full IIS today (including the ability to run IIS Express in both a locked-down enterprise environment as well as a locked-down school shared computer environment).

2) The "Test Site" we are running above using IIS Express supports both HTTP and HTTPS access. IIS Express automatically installs a "self-signed certificate" and enables URL ACLs and SSL Certificates for ports so that developers (running as non-administrators on a machine) can use SSL without needing to elevate their accounts or setup any additional configuration. This enables you to configure secure pages within your applications (like Logon forms) for SSL and run/test them at development time just like they'll work on your real web-server.

IIS 7.x Feature Set

IIS Express is as easy to run and use as the ASP.NET Web Server you are familiar with today. But because IIS Express is based on the IIS 7x codebase, you have a full web-server feature-set that you can use. This means you can build and run your applications just they'll work on a real production web-server. In addition to scenarios like SSL, you can take advantage of the IIS 7.x URL Rewriter module, Media Extensions, Dynamic Compression, Advanced Logging, Custom Security and other rich modules now available.

In addition to supporting ASP.NET, IIS Express also supports Classic ASP and other file-types and extensions supported by IIS – which also makes it ideal for sites that combine a variety of different technologies.

Summary

We think IIS Express makes it even easier to build, run and test web applications. It works with all versions of ASP.NET and supports all ASP.NET application types (including obviously ASP.NET Web Forms and ASP.NET MVC applications). Best of all – you do not need to change any code to take advantage of it. You'll be able to optionally use it with all your current projects today.

We'll be releasing the first public beta of IIS Express shortly. With the beta you'll be able to right-click on a file-system folder and have IIS Express launch a web-site based on that file-system location. We'll also be releasing a patch for VS 2010 and Visual Web Developer 2010 Express later this year that will enable you to automatically launch and use IIS Express in place of VS's built-in ASP.NET Developer Server. Future versions of Visual Studio will then ship with this functionality built-in.

Hope this helps,

Scott

P.S. In addition to blogging, I am also now using Twitter for quick updates and to share links. Follow me at: twitter.com/scottgu

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Supersonic Green Machine sends greetings from the future

2010-06-30T01:04:00.001-07:00

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Supersonic Green Machine sends greetings from the future

via Engadget by Vlad Savov on 6/29/10

While many of us are busy debating the relative merits of pocket-sized technology, NASA is mulling over ideas on a much grander scale. Submitted as part of the Administration's research into advanced aeronautics, the above Lockheed Martin-designed aircraft is just one vision of how air travel might be conducted in the future. It's a supersonic jet employing an inverted-V engine-under-wing configuration, which apparently helps to significantly reduce the resultant sonic boom. Other than that, we're only told that "other revolutionary technologies" will provide for the achievement of range, payload and environmental goals. So that snazzy paintjob wasn't just for show, after all -- who'd have guessed?

Supersonic Green Machine sends greetings from the future originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 03:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Inhabitat | NASA | Email this | Comments

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Sync Files Between Computers & SkyDrive with Windows Live Sync Beta

2010-06-30T00:55:00.001-07:00

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Sync Files Between Computers & SkyDrive with Windows Live Sync Beta

via the How-To Geek by Matthew Guay on 6/29/10

Would you like to keep your files and program settings synced between your computers? Here's our overview of the new Windows Live Sync beta, which helps you keep your important files everywhere you need them.

One of the newest and most exciting features the new Windows Live Essentials beta is Windows Live Sync. The new version of Live Sync blends together features from both the old Live Sync, which synced folder between individual computers, and Live Mesh, which synced folders with an online desktop as well as other computers. The new Live Sync lets you sync folders and program settings between computers, and connect remotely to your Synced machines. It also lets you sync folders with your SkyDrive, so you can access files from anywhere. We'll take a look at the features and how you can set this up on your computers.

Note: The new Windows Live Essentials beta only works on Windows 7 and Vista. Also, Live Sync is currently in beta, so only use it if you're comfortable running beta software.

Getting Started

Download the Windows Live Essentials Beta installer (link below) and setup as normal if you haven't already. If you had Live Mesh installed on your computer already, you'll be prompted that Mesh will be uninstalled and Live Sync will be installed instead. You may want to note which folders you were syncing with Live Mesh before, as you'll need to set these up again after Sync is installed. Click Continue to proceed with your installation.

When you install the Live Essentials Beta, make sure to select to install Sync. Click Install when you've selected the components you want to install.

The installer will now download and install or update your applications depending on your settings. If you had Mesh installed previously, you will notice a notification as it uninstalls during the setup.

When it's finished installing, you may need to reboot your computer before you can use Live Sync. Make sure to install Essentials on all computers you need to sync!

Once your computer is rebooted, you can try to run Sync. Strangely, the Live Essentials setup does not uninstall previous versions of Live Sync, so if you had the older version installed you will need to uninstall it first.

Open Control Panel, select Uninstall a program, find the older version of Live Sync, and click Uninstall. The newer Windows Live Sync you just installed is included under the Windows Live Essentials installer, so the one listed as Windows Live Sync with an icon that has two blue arrows is the one you want to uninstall.

Start Syncing with Live Sync

Now you're ready to start syncing folders between your computers and SkyDrive. Start Live Sync from your Start Menu, and login with your Windows Live ID. Make sure to select Sign me in automatically so you don't have to enter your account info each time you sync. If you're already used the new Live Messenger Beta on your computer, you may not have to enter your password as it will already have your account information.

Welcome to Live Sync Beta! None of your folders will sync automatically, and the folders you were syncing before with Mesh or the old Live Sync will not be imported automatically. Click the Sync a folder link under your computer's name to get started.

Note: You'll need to sign in on each of your computers.

Browse and select a folder you want to sync. Strangely, at this time it does not support syncing Libraries in Windows 7, so you'll need to sync individual folders such as Documents.

Now, select the computer you want to sync with, or select SkyDrive to sync the contents of your folder with your online storage. You can sync with multiple devices at once, so select all the ones you want and then click Ok.

Please Note: Live Sync only allows you to sync up to 2Gb of files with SkyDrive.

If there are any conflicts with the sync, you'll see a caution logo on the folder. Click View details to see what the problem is.

In our test, we had some hidden files in our folders, and Live Sync cannot sync them. You can fix the issue yourself, or click Ignore if you don't want to be notifies of this problem.

Once you've got your folders setup, Live Sync will process and transfer files to keep those folders in sync between the computers. You won't need to set anything up on your other computer; as long as you're signed in with the same Live ID, your folders will sync automatically.

It can also keep your programs settings synced between your computers. Select Turn on syncing under the programs listed at the bottom to sync their settings. You will need to set this on each computer individually, which means you could sync settings between 2 computers and only sync files on another. Currently you can sync Internet Explorer favorites and Office settings such as signatures and custom dictionaries, but hopefully more programs will be added in the future.

If one of your computers is offline when another tries to sync, you may see new temporary files with a .wlx extension which are the files that will be synced when that computer is online. These will be removed when you computer is able to sync again.

Also note that Live Sync will now automatically run whenever you start the computer.

Connect to your Computers Remotely

The new Live Sync beta also lets you remotely connect to your Synced computers just like Mesh did. First, though, you'll need to enable remote connections. Open the Sync window (simply double-click its icon in your system tray), and select the Remote link on the top. Now click the Allow remote connections to this computer.

If your Windows user account doesn't have a password, you'll need to add one to the account before you can connect remotely. Once you've done this, the computer will be ready for remote access.

Now you can access that computer anytime from your other connected computers on Sync. Open the Sync window, select Remote at the top, and then click Connect to this computer under the computer's name that you want to connect to.

Confirm that you want to connect to that computer.

Live Sync will now try to connect to the computer. If someone is currently logged into the remote computer, it will notify you that someone is using it and will prompt them to let you connect.

Note: If you need to log into your own computers remotely, so you can, for instance, access your desktop at home from your work laptop, then you need to leave your computers logged out of the user account so you can access them remotely without having to approve it.

On the remote computer, click Allow to let the remote connection go through. Now you will be able to see what is being done on the computer, but you cannot control it locally while the remote connection is active. However, if you need to use the computer again before the remote session is finished, you can press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to log off the remote connection and take control locally.

Once the connection is finalized, you'll see your remote computer's desktop in a window. Login with the standard password.

Now you'll see your desktop, as well as a notification that shows anyone at the remote computer you are using the computer. Notice that the background and Aero theme are set to basic to provide the best performance over the internet.

You can now use your other computer remotely just as you would if you were sitting in front of it. Notice that we are connecting to our netbook, which is running Windows 7 Home Premium, so you can use this as a free Remote Desktop for home editions of Windows. You can copy and paste between your computer and your remote connection, and can even transfer large files this way.

You can choose connection settings from the menu bar at the top of the remote desktop window. Here you can send Ctrl+Alt+Delete to the remote computer, or even work full-screen from the button on the right with the square and arrow icon.

Once you're finished with your remote connection, simply exit the window. Click Disconnect at the prompt to confirm it.

The remote computer will stay at the login screen, so you can easily connect again or login from that computer to use it normally.

Geeky Facts

We noticed a few interesting things while testing Windows Live Sync. First, obviously it's heavily based on the old Live Mesh; in fact, moe.exe, which is identified as Mesh Operating Environment, is running whenever the new Live Sync is running.

There's even a new Mesh folder under Windows Live that includes the required .dll and .exe files…

While the only folder for Sync itself contains mainly the UI components for the new Live Sync. So it appears that the new Sync's backend is mainly based on Live Mesh, albeit now using SkyDrive as the storage solution and primarily centered on computer-to-computer sync.

Here it is running in Process Explorer. Note that WLSync is the UI, and MOE is the backend, confirming our suspicions.

One other thing we noticed is it seems to transfer files locally within your network if both computer are on the same network. The old Live Sync included an option to activate Lan sync, which would let you transfer files directly inside your local network if your computers were located in the same network, and the new Live Sync beta seems to be doing this automatically.

So, to sync your computers, they still need to have an internet connection to authenticate the transfer, but if you're syncing large files they will transfer much quicker since they are simply transferring within your network. Again, there was no setting to choose whether or not to do this, but it appeared to do it automatically in our tests.

Live Sync for Macs

Live Sync is also available for computers running Mac OS X. This lets you keep your files and folders synced between all of your computers, whether they're a Mac or PC, and also lets you share folders with friends who use OS X. We haven't tested it, but you can check out more information about the new beta and download it at the link below.

Hat tip to martin_schmidler on Flickr for the screenshot.

Conclusion

Live Sync makes it easy to keep your computers synced, and even works as a great way to collaborate with friends and colleagues. The SkyDrive integration lets you keep your files accessible from anywhere, though we wish you could use the full 25Gb of SkyDrive storage rather than just 2Gb of Sync storage. Also, Sync seemed to be more resource intensive than the old Live Sync, though less resource intensive than Live Mesh. Of course it's still in beta stage and hopefully some of the issues will get ironed out.

Still, we were impressed at how easy it made keeping your computers in sync, and the remote desktop connection was easier to setup than most remote desktop solutions. If you enjoy trying out beta programs, give Live Sync a try and see how it can make it easier to work from anywhere. Otherwise, you can look forward to trying it out when it is released fully later this year.

If you'd like more information about the new Windows Live Essentials suite check out our Screenshot Tour.

Links

Download the new Live Essentials Beta and install Live Sync
Download Live Sync for Mac beta (via LiveSide.net)

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G20 Protests in Toronto

2010-06-30T00:52:00.001-07:00

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G20 Protests in Toronto

via The Big Picture on 6/28/10

Last week, leaders of nations from both the G8 and G20 gathered in Ontario Canada, for meetings in in Huntsville and Toronto. Canadian authorities planning for the event spent an estimated $1 billion, mostly for security. Tens of thousands of protesters descended on Toronto, looking to have their voices heard on a broad range of issues, from indigenous rights to anti-capitalist ideals, to human and animal rights, and much more. Many peaceful marches took place throughout the weekend, but on Saturday, a small group of "black bloc" anarchists became violent, smashing storefronts and burning several police vehicles. Harsher tactics and more arrests by the 20,000 police officers deployed to Toronto soon followed, although many of those arrested were released from a temporary G20 detainment center soon after. (42 photos total)

A protester with gas mask and camera participates in a standoff with a line of riot police on Bay Street during the G8 and G20 Summits, Saturday, June 26, 2010 in Toronto, Canada. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Black bloc - Canada - Toronto - G-20 major economies - Police

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How to Batch Edit Photos with Phatch

2010-06-30T00:51:00.001-07:00

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How to Batch Edit Photos with Phatch

via the How-To Geek by Justin Garrison on 6/29/10

If you have ever needed to edit a whole folder of photos with the same effect or need to repeatedly crop, add watermarks, or drop shadows to images for the web, Phatch is the tool for the job. Phatch is a photo batch editor written in python so it works on any operating system.

Install Phatch

Phatch is available in the package manager of most Linux distributions. If it is not available you can download installation files from the Phatch website or source code from launchpad. In Windows and OS X things are a bit different and you will need to install all dependencies and launch the phatch.py script manually. Links and download zip with all dependencies for Windows can be found below.

Use Phatch to Edit Your Pictures

When Phatch is opened it looks more like a buddy list window than a photo editor. The first thing to do is click on the plus sign to add an action.

The first action to add should always be save. It is important to make sure save is on the bottom of the list because actions run in order from top to bottom.

When save has been added to the action list, there will be more options for filename, type, and location. Some file formats will add more options to the save action if they are available.

Even if the photo does not need editing, Phatch is still a great conversion tool with a plethora of available file formats it can read and write.

Now that the save action is on the list, click the plus sign again to add more to the action list. Each photo edit is its own action, so if the photo needs a watermark and a drop shadow, separate actions will need to be added.

Use the up and down arrows to change the order the actions will run, and make sure there is at least one save action at the bottom of the list. Phatch also can use external programs such as Blender and Imagemagick if those programs are installed.

Note: If you need multiple copies of the same file (eg. web thumbnail and full size image) you can have multiple save actions anywhere on the list. But remember the action list is processed from top to bottom. So don't create and save your thumbnail before the full size image.

Click the action list menu to save and easily repeat these steps later on any pictures. Action list are stored in .phatch files which can be opened on any platform to have identical photo edits every time.

If an action needs to be temporarily disabled, right-click on the action item and then disable it. Disabling skips that action when processing the list. This can be helpful if an image already has a watermark or drop shadow and doesn't need to be processed again.

To run the action list, click on the gears icon or push Ctrl+Return and another dialog will pop up for a location of files or folders and options to overwrite images, include subfolders, and what filetypes to process. Click Batch and the action list will run and save in the location you specified.

Here is a few examples of photo edits we created quickly with a photo of a friends car.

Phatch Image Inspector

Phatch also comes with an image inspector which can show the EXIF and IPTC information from the image. To launch the image inspector, click on the magnifying glass in the main Phatch window.

Drag an image to the window to see its attributes and tag information.

Phatch is a powerful photo editing tool that can repeat common photo edits in a snap; it is also free and cross platform which makes it even more valuable when working with the web from multiple machines.

Link

Go to Phatch homepage

Phatch on launchpad

Download Phatch with dependencies for Windows XP

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How Data Travels From a Wireless Device [Infographic]

2010-06-30T00:45:00.000-07:00

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How Data Travels From a Wireless Device [Infographic]

via Gizmodo by Brian Barrett on 6/29/10

How does that picture you just sent your buddy get from your phone to his computer, exactly? Surprisingly enough, not through pixie dust and unicorn dreams! Here's how it really works.

This infographic from Time Warner Cable shows just how involved the process is, and acts as a good reminder that sending something "wirelessly" actually often involves, well, a whole bunch of wires. [TWC Untangled via Business Insider]

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Off the Beaten Path: Jakar

2010-06-29T04:21:00.000-07:00

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Off the Beaten Path: Jakar

via Wikitravel on 9/14/08

Jakar (2,800m) is the principal administrative town of Bumthang district in the north of Bhutan.

Jakar

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Kanako

2010-06-29T04:19:00.002-07:00

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Kanako

via FASHION JAPAN by Kjeld Duits on 6/27/10

STUDENT, 19

Cardigan – Lineadue
Skirt – N/A
Shoes – N/A (used)

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Mash

2010-06-29T04:19:00.001-07:00

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Mash

via FASHION JAPAN by Kjeld Duits on 6/28/10

ARTIST, 24

Dress – Beams
T-Shirt – Jane Marple
Shoes – totes sport

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Gulf oil disaster: Pensacola Beach (click to see all 22 photos)

2010-06-29T04:16:00.001-07:00

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Gulf oil disaster: Pensacola Beach (click to see all 22 photos)

via All Eyes by Times Editor on 6/24/10

Deepwater Horizon exploded about 11 p.m. on April 20 and later sank. Visit our special report page for the latest reports on the gulf oil disaster.

The tide came in Tuesday night, under a moon almost full, and when the sun came up and the water retreated there it was: a broken band of oil about 5 feet wide and 8 miles long.

It looked like tobacco spit and smelled foreign, and it pooled in yesterday's footprints as far as you could see. State officials called it the worst show of crude on shore from the gusher 120 miles away.
READ THE STORY: Oil blankets Pensacola Beach. Times photos by Edmund Fountain

Kevin Reed, 36, of Pensacola breaks down and weeps upon seeing the oil-defiled shores of Pensacola Beach on June 23, 2010. Reed's father taught him to swim in these waters, and Reed just taught his five year old son to swim here. "This will never be the same," he says. "I'd like to take the CEO of BP and jam his face in that pile on the beach."

Kenny Wood, 44, of Pace, Fla., cleans oil from Pensacola Beach on June 24. He isn't part of a BP work crew and isn't getting paid anything to be there. "Eventually I might get with one of them crews," he says. Asked what drove him to come pick up tar balls he responed "This is our beach, man."

L-R: Escambia County Commission Chair Grover Robinson watches as USF Coastal Resesarch Lab Geologist Rip Kirby illuminates Pensacola Beach with a UV lamp exposing oil tainted sand well away from the shoreline. The tainted sand glows bright orange under the light, but is invisible to the naked eye.

USF Coastal Reasearch Lab geologist Rip Kirby illuminates Pensacola Beach with a UV light on June 24. Oil specks glow orange in the sand on this beach that had been cleaned. Sifters used by cleanup crews allow contaminated sand to fall back to the beach, even though contamination is not visible to the unaided eye.

USF Coastal Reasearch Lab geologist Rip Kirby illuminates his foot and Pensacola Beach with a UV light on June 24. Oil specks glow orange in the sand on this beach that had been cleaned. Sifters used by cleanup crews allow contaminated sand to fall back to the beach, even though contamination is not visible to the unaided eye.

A trench dug by a group of USF geologists shows a continuous layer of oil approximately six inches beneath the surface of Pensacola Beach near Gulf Islands National Seashore on June 24.

University of South Florida coastal geology graduate student Katie Brutsche, 25, digs a trench on Pensacola Beach exposing a vein of oil buried under approximately six inches of sand on June 24. According to a group of USF geologists, the layer of oil was buried by an overnight tide Wednesday night.

A cleanup crew sifts sand on Pensacola Beach, trying to eradicate as many tar balls as possible on June 24. The dark colored sand is grains stained by the oil that were small enough to pass through the sieves. USF geologists dug trenches along the beach in multiple locations and discovered a nearly continuous vein of oil buried in approximately 4-6 inches of sand.

A trench dug by a group of USF geologists shows a continuous layer of oil approximately six inches beneath the surface of Pensacola Beach near Gulf Islands National Seashore on June 24.

Workers clean up oil that came ashore on Pensacola Beach overnight on June 23 as spectators watch. The waters on the beach are closed to the public and tar balls are still visible in the surf.

Oil mars Pensacola Beach on June 23.

Footprints are left on Pensacola Beach on June 23. Signs on trash cans at at the beach ask that visitors leave only footprints when they depart. Overnight, tides left the beaches strewn with tar balls, oil mousse, and sludge from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Onlookers stare at a huge mass of oil that came ashore on Pensacola Beach on June 23. The water is closed to the public.

L-R: Sisters Courtney King, 8, and Kaylee King, 5, of Gulf Breeze investigate oil along Pensacola Beach on June 23. The pair were out with their parents, who visit the beach often. "We've been out here several times, but this is a shock," said their father Todd King. "This is the worst it has been."

Oil pools on Pensacola Beach after being stepped in by David Crocco, 42, of Los Angeles. Crocco intentionally stepped into the oil as part of a film being produced by Truth-Action Productions.

David Crocco, 42, of Los Angeles washes oil from his feet on Pensacola Beach after stepping in a pool of it on June 23.

Oil washed ashore overnight in Pensacola Beach on June 23, defiling the white sands for which the town is famous. The water is closed to the public.

Cleanup crews remove oil that washed ashore at Pensacola Beach on June 23. The waters are closed to the public, but that did not stop curiousity seekers from coming to the beach to see the mess.

Oil mars the white sands of Pensacola Beach on June 23. The water is now closed to the public.

Onlookers stare at oil that washed ashore on Pensacola Beach on June 23. The waters are now closed to the public. Tar balls can be seen in the surf.

Children walk amidst oil debris on Pensacola Beach on June 23. Oil came ashore on the beach overnight, and the waters are now closed to the public.

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What Makes You A "Visitor"?

2010-06-29T04:15:00.001-07:00

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What Makes You A "Visitor"?

via The Faculty Lounge by Tim Zinnecker on 6/24/10

My caption is prompted by a comment posted to an earlier iteration of our list of "visitors." In many instances, the info on our list has been provided by the individual, rather than the host institution (sometimes we received info from the individual and the institution; sometimes from just the institution; sometimes from a colleague or friend; sometimes from another internet source). I have no reason to question the accuracy of the info (regardless of source), choosing instead to believe that the repercussions of any blatant falsehoods would be quickly brought to light and swiftly (and perhaps painfully) addressed.

But I do wonder if we all assign the same meaning to the term "visitor." Consider the following:

1) With my school's permission, I move from Houston to Cleveland to teach a regular load of courses at Case Western for a semester. I'm not teaching any courses at South Texas during that semester. I probably return to Houston three or more weekends during the semester. I continue to draw my paycheck from South Texas, which is reimbursed by Case Western (which may or may not pay me a relocation supplement). I'm a "visitor," right? (And whether Case Western identifies me as such on its faculty roster is irrelevant, right?)

2) I teach one course at cross-town Texas Southern during a semester. I continue with my normal responsibilities at South Texas. TSU pays me directly for my services. Am I a "visitor"? Does the answer depend on whether TSU lists me as a "visitor" on its faculty directory?

3) I leave practice to become a Bigelow Fellow at Chicago or a participant in the VAP Program at Duke. Am I a "visitor"? Can I be a "visitor" if I'm not temporarily leaving a position at another university?

4) I am scheduled for a sabbatical next semester. For whatever reason (e.g., family, financial, professional, etc.), I contact several schools and express an interest in relocating just for the semester to teach commercial law courses. My friend Richard Gershon invites me to Oxford for the semester. I'll continue to draw my salary and benefits from South Texas, but I'll also be drawing a nice salary from the University of Mississippi. Am I a "visitor"? Does it matter whether Mississippi lists me as a visitor on its faculty directory? (Query whether your sabbatical policy allows you to teach elsewhere during the sabbatical. Perhaps that's a worthy topic for another day.)

Thoughts on these, or other, examples?

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It’s The Culture, Stupid

2010-06-29T04:14:00.003-07:00

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It’s The Culture, Stupid

via The Faculty Lounge by Kim Krawiec on 6/22/10

In testimony yesterday, Eric Cordelle, Jérôme Kerviel's immediate supervisor at Société Générale confirmed a point about which I've previously blogged: the Delta One desk on which Jérôme Kerviel worked at Société Générale exceeded trading limits "quite frequently." Cordelle claimed, however, "that this was usually for technical reasons and he had not known of a trader intentionally overstepping the mark."

For reasons that I've already discussed, that seems unlikely. The sheer size and scope of Kerviel's trades cast doubt on the claim. Recall that Kerviel's earnings grew six-fold between 2006 and 2007 to constitute a substantial percentage of total desk (59%) and division (27%) earnings. Recall also that Kerviel's authorized trading activity could not possibly have accounted for such large profits. This means that not only Kerviel's now-infamous 2008 losses, but a significant portion of his 2007 profits, on which he was paid a substantial bonus, are attributable to his "rogue" trading.

Finally, recall the conclusion of PricewaterhourseCoopers in its subsequent review of the event:

Front office activities developed against the backdrop of a strong entrepreneurial culture based on trust. The surge in Delta One trading volumes and profits was accompanied by the emergence of unauthorised practices, with limits regularly exceeded and results smoothed or transferred between traders. (emphasis mine)

But there is one point from Cordelle's testimony on which I want to elaborate: Cordelle said that "he was overworked and had neither the resources nor the tools to monitor individual traders' positions." This is likely true, and is yet another reason why Société Générale bears ultimate blame for the trading losses.

A review of the Société Générale scandal reveals a familiar pattern of organizational and departmental change that stressed trading and oversight systems, followed by a failure to respond to common red flags and warning signals. Kerviel's division had experienced strong, rapid growth (a common element in prior rogue trading scandals), with trading personnel expanding from four to twenty-three in two years. The risk management and compliance departments were unable to keep pace with these changes. Although the size of middle office personnel doubled, they suffered frequent departures and were chronically understaffed.

Moreover, despite a doubling in middle office staff size, many of the employees were new, undertrained, and lacking in sufficient experience. These problems were exacerbated by the weakness of Kerviel's direct supervisor, his lack of supporting staff, and the initial tolerance of Kerviel's unauthorized intraday positions, which created an environment that minimized the importance of internal controls.

But, rather than increasing their vigilance regarding potential employee misconduct in the wake of these business line and organizational changes, Société Générale ignored common warning signs of potential problems, breeding a culture of noncompliance. As I'll demonstrate in my next post, It's The Stupid Culture, this feature is common to other large rogue trading scandals.

All facts, figures, and calculations used in this post, and the sources and citations from which they are derived, are detailed here.

Image Source

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Find the Person Behind an Email Address

2010-06-29T04:14:00.001-07:00

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Find the Person Behind an Email Address

via Digital Inspiration Technology Blog by Amit on 6/24/10

You get an email from a person with whom you have never interacted before and therefore, before you reply to that message, you would like to know something more about him or her. How do you do this without directly asking the other person?

Web search engines are obviously the most popular place for performing reverse email lookups but if the person you're trying to research doesn't have a website or has never interacted with his email address on public forums before, Google will probably be of little help.

No worries, here are few tips and online services that may still help you uncover the identity of that unknown email sender.

#1. Find the sender's location

Open the header of the email message and look for lines that say "Received: from" followed by an IP address in square brackets. If there are multiple entries, use the IP address mentioned in the last entry.

Now paste the IP address in this trace route tool and you should get a fairly good idea about the location of the email sender.

#2. Reverse email search with Facebook

Facebook has 450 million users worldwide and there's a high probability that the sender may also have a profile on Facebook.

Unlike LinkedIn and most other social networks, Facebook lets you search users by email address so that should make your job simpler. Just paste the email address of the sender into the Facebook search box and you'll immediately know if a matching profile exists in the network.

If you are able to locate that person on Facebook, download his profile picture and then upload it to TinEye – it's a reverse image search engine so you can locate his other social profiles where he may have used the same picture.

#3. Check all the other Social Networks

You can use a service like Knowem to quickly determine if a profile with a particular username exists in any of the social networks.

If the email address of the send is something like green_peas@hotmail.com, there's a probably that he or she may have created accounts of some other social network using the same alias "green_peas" – put that in knowem.com to confirm.

#4. People Search

Finally, if nothing works, you should try a people search service like Pipl and Spokeo – both services let you perform reverse email lookups but Spokeo has a more comprehensive database than Pipl.

Other than regular web documents, Spoke also scans social networks and even the whois information of domain names to find any bit of information associated with an email address. However, some of the results returned by Spokeo are only available to subscribers.

Also see: Find Postal Addresses with Google Maps

Find the Person Behind an Email Address

Originally published at Digital Inspiration by Amit Agarwal.

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Turkey Must Demonstrate Commitment to West, Says Washington

2010-06-29T04:13:00.003-07:00

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Turkey Must Demonstrate Commitment to West, Says Washington

via Asbarez Armenian News by Asbarez Staff on 6/28/10

WASHINGTON (AP)–The United States is warning Turkey that it is alienating U.S. supporters and needs to demonstrate its commitment to partnership with the West.

The remarks by Philip Gordon, the Obama administration's top diplomat on European affairs, were a rare admonishment of a crucial NATO ally.

"We think Turkey remains committed to NATO, Europe and the United States, but that needs to be demonstrated," Gordon told The Associated Press in an interview this week. "There are people asking questions about it in a way that is new, and that in itself is a bad thing that makes it harder for the United States to support some of the things that Turkey would like to see us support."

Gordon cited Turkey's vote against a U.S.-backed United Nations Security Council resolution on new sanctions against Iran and noted Turkish rhetoric after Israel's deadly assault on a Gaza-bound flotilla last month. The Security Council vote came shortly after Turkey and Brazil, to Washington's annoyance, had brokered a nuclear fuel-swap deal with Iran as an effort to delay or avoid new sanctions.

Some U.S. lawmakers who have supported Turkey warned of consequences for Ankara since the Security Council vote and the flotilla raid that left eight Turks and one Turkish-American dead. The lawmakers accused Turkey of supporting a flotilla that aimed to undermine Israel's blockade of Gaza and of cozying up to Iran.

The raid has led to a chilling of ties between Turkey and Israel, countries that have long maintained a strategic alliance in the Middle East.

Turkey's ambassador to the United States, Namik Tan, expressed surprise at Gordon's comments. He said Turkey's commitment to NATO remains strong and should not be questioned.

"I think this is unfair," he said.

Tan said Turkish officials have explained repeatedly to U.S. counterparts that voting against the proposed sanctions was the only credible decision after the Turkish-brokered deal with Iran. Turkey has opposed sanctions as ineffective and damaging to its interests with an important neighbor. It has said that it hopes to maintain channels with Tehran to continue looking for a solution to the standoff over Iran's alleged nuclear arms ambitions.

"We couldn't have voted otherwise," Tan said. "We put our own credibility behind this thing."

Tan said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was expected to discuss these issues with President Barack Obama on the margins of a summit of world economic powers in Toronto on Saturday.

Gordon said Turkey's explanations of the U.N. episode have not been widely understood in Washington.

"There is a lot of questioning going on about Turkey's orientation and its ongoing commitment to strategic partnership with the United States," he said. "Turkey, as a NATO ally and a strong partner of the United States not only didn't abstain but voted no, and I think that Americans haven't understood why."

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The Audacity of Obama: Thoughts on Reclaiming the Promised Hope

2010-06-29T04:13:00.001-07:00

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The Audacity of Obama: Thoughts on Reclaiming the Promised Hope

via Asbarez Armenian News by Ara Khachatourian on 6/28/10

BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN

During his campaign, President Obama pledged to work "for a lasting and durable settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict that is agreeable to all parties, and based upon America's founding commitment to the principles of democracy and self determination."

Somehow, for Obama, "America's founding commitment to the principles of democracy and self determination" now translate into forcing Armenia into a corner to make concessions on the Karabakh conflict, and most importantly, ignore the will—self-determination—of the people of Karabakh, hence promoting a process that is solely advantageous to Azerbaijan, where the US greed for energy, coupled with the pursuit of a failed agenda in Afghanistan, supersedes all else.

By co-signing a statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with his Russian and French counterparts Demitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy, Obama showed, once again, that his version of the so-called American dream does not include a commitment to justice and human rights, but rather an adamant insistence to pursue the failed policies of his predecessors.

The statement was another reiteration of the sides' commitment to the thus-failed OSCE Minsk Group's so-called Madrid Principles. But, the silence by the three leaders on last week's fatal violation, by Azeri forces, of the cease fire distinguishes this statement from all those that came before it. Effectively, President Obama has signed his name to a document that condones the oft-condemned bellicose rhetoric by Azerbaijan and green-lights future such attacks, which were Azerbaijan's way to reinforce its dangerous and violent position on the peace process.

Now, he's sending Secretary of State Clinton to the region, who, no doubt, will use the same zeal that she did during the signing of the failed Armenia-Turkey protocols to threaten, bully and arm twist Armenia into another hasty agreement that will endanger the national security of Armenia and the Armenian nation.

What supports this misguided effort by the US is official Yerevan's immediate and fervent approval of the statement, the rationalization for which provided by Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian, once again, calls into question the ability of the Sarkisian administration to traverse complex diplomatic issues in favor of Armenia's—and Armenians'—interest.

How ironic that Clinton is expected to spend the July 4 holiday weekend strong-arming Caucasus' leaders to follow a path that is so far divorced from what our forefathers set out to accomplish in 1776.

Medvedev's and Sarkozy's participation in this effort is also dubious. These two leaders who have been so vocal on their opposition to the US mission in Iraq, as well as most of the US-led post 9/11 efforts, were quick to turn a blind eye to last week's Azeri attacks and support an initiative that has failed to bring peace to the region.

What clearly has also failed is Obama's audacious effort—hope—to adhere to inalienable rights and principles in his pursuit of the now so-illusive change.

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Apricot Farmers Struggling in Armenia Amid Crop Failure

2010-06-29T04:12:00.005-07:00

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Apricot Farmers Struggling in Armenia Amid Crop Failure

via Asbarez Armenian News by Asbarez Staff on 6/28/10

YEREVAN (Eurasianet.org)–Apricots may have served as Armenia's calling card at this year's Eurovision pop music contest, but, back home, severe crop damage has transformed these "kisses of the earth, fruits of the sun" into a source of economic hardship.

"We have no idea what to do. I want to cry bitterly looking at my orchard trees," said Margo Vardanian, the owner of an apricot orchard in Jrashen, a village in central Armenia's Ararat Valley. "Hail and rain have spoilt the crop. The apricots that survived … are not fit for export."

Freezing temperatures in late March, along with protracted rain, severely damaged apricot orchards in the Ararat Valley, the 3,071-hectare-large epicenter of Armenia's apricot industry. Nearly three months after the procession of storms, orchard owners are still cursing the bad weather.

Agriculture Minister Gerasim Alaverdian has predicted a 30-40 percent slump in the 2010 apricot harvest, compared with last year's yield of 85,000 tons. That slump is reflected in prices at Yerevan's central market, where imported bananas now sell for far less than local apricots — about 600 to 800 drams (about $1.60 – $2.00) per kilo of bananas compared to 1,000 to 2,500 drams (about $3.00 – $6.50) for a kilo of apricots. Those prices, roughly three to eight times the level of last year's prices, have made apricots a delicacy for many Armenians.

At a June 2 press conference, Alaverdian pledged that "[t]here will be no problems with apricot export and storage," but high prices and short supplies make some experts skeptical about how well Armenia's apricots will be able to compete this year in Russian and European markets. Last year, Armenia exported 13,500 tons of apricots to Russia and the European Union. Data on the revenue value of those exports was not immediately available.

The country's largest apricot export company, Spayka, is expecting to slash its exports by 30 percent this year, according to Spayka Development Manager Karen Baghdasarian.

Apricot farmer Vardanian shares the skepticism about the market outlook for apricots. She expects less than a ton of apricots from her one-hectare orchard this year. In 2009, the orchard produced about 22 tons. To keep the orchard going, her family took out a bank loan of more than a million drams, or about $2,670, she said. "Huge loans and debts — this is all we have now, we don't know what to live on," Vardanian recounted. "I wish the government helped us by freezing [interest payments on] our loans until next year's harvest."

An apricot orchard owner from Etchmiadzin, a town about a half-hour's drive from Yerevan, expressed similar frustrations. "The trade in our orchards was in full swing at this time in the past, while now we have neither work to do nor any expectations [of work]," complained the orchard owner.

But, for now, whether or not the government plans to intervene remains unknown.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Samvel Galstian said the ministry is still evaluating the damage to Armenia's apricot crop and will submit a report for cabinet consideration in July. "We don't know yet whether the government will be able to help the farmers or not; we have to wait now," Galstian said.

Meanwhile, apricot farmers are settling down to wait, too. "We must survive until next year, then we'll see what we can do," said one Etchmiadzin orchard owner, pointing out the poor quality of his orchard's speckled apricots. "Still, a question remains whether we'll manage or not."

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Turkish Warplanes Bomb Iraqi Kurdistan

2010-06-29T04:12:00.003-07:00

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Turkish Warplanes Bomb Iraqi Kurdistan

via Asbarez Armenian News by Asbarez Staff on 6/28/10

ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) — Turkish warplanes bombed northern Iraq on Monday, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and an Iraqi Kurdish official said, as Ankara stepped up its attack on the region's Kurds.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the air raids, which began at midday and targeted the Sidakan district of Arbil province in the mountainous northeast of Iraq.

"So far they have resulted in fires breaking out in forests and fields in the mountains," Sidakan district commissioner Ahmed Qadr told AFP.

PKK spokesman Ahmed Denis said: "The bombing targeted Kurdish nomads in the border area. We don't yet know the extent of the damage or casualties."

Turkey has launched repeated air raids and two ground incursions against suspected PKK rear-bases in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq in recent weeks.

They came as the Turkish army suffered its deadliest 48 hours in two years in its battle with the PKK.

On June 19-20, Kurdish freedom fighters killed 12 Turkish soldiers in multiple attacks inside Turkey prompting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to pledge to fight the PKK "to the end".

Three more soldiers were killed in further attacks on June 21 and 24.

And on June 22, a PKK splinter group bombed a Turkish military bus in Istanbul, killing five soldiers.

Blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, the PKK took up arms for Kurdish liberation in southeastern Turkey in 1984 in response to decades of state-sponsored oppression.

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Turkey Wants More than Intelligence from US in War Against PKK

2010-06-29T04:12:00.001-07:00

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Turkey Wants More than Intelligence from US in War Against PKK

via Asbarez Armenian News by Asbarez Staff on 6/28/10

ANKARA (Hurriyet)–Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the U.S. to help Turkey in its war against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) by providing the Turkish military with than just "intelligence sharing," the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported on Monday.

Erdogan made his remarks early Monday during a press conference in Toronto, where he attended the G-20 summit over the weekend and met separately with US President Barack Obama.

According to the Turkish leader, an anti-terror mechanism set up between Turkey, Iraq and the United States should include functions other than "intelligence sharing." Erdogan said he discussed this issue in talks with Obama.

"This is being negotiated within the trilateral mechanism. I think that the steps to be taken in this regard will be implemented," Erdogan said before his departure from Toronto.

Erdogan said he and Obama focused on Turkey's war against the PKK, disagreements over Iran sanctions and the ongoing row between Turkey and Israel.

Erdogan said he asked Obama to enlarge American cooperation with Turkey against the PKK in light of what Erdogan called a recently launched "terror campaign" by the Kurdish freedom movement.

The U.S. has been providing Turkey with intelligence since late 2007 and initiated the establishment of what they call the trilateral mechanism – a broad cooperative measure between Turkey, Iraq and the U.S. intended to restrict the movement of the PKK in Northern Iraq.

Erdogan, however, said Turkey is unsatisfied with its function. He said Turkey has long been expecting a more operational form of cooperation against the PKK, but neither side has been willing to respond.

"It seems that the region is ruled by the separatist terrorist organization [the PKK]. On the one hand we'll talk about the territorial integrity of this country [Iraq], but on the other hand we'll talk about a part of this country captured by the terror organization," Erdogan said.

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The "Walk Past A Starbucks, Get A Coupon Sent To Your Phone" Cliche Is About...

2010-06-29T03:58:00.001-07:00

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The "Walk Past A Starbucks, Get A Coupon Sent To Your Phone" Cliche Is About To Become A Reality (AAPL, GOOG)

via Silicon Alley Insider by Nick Saint on 6/28/10

This Innovation Series post is brought to you by Lexus

It has been a cliche about the future of mobile advertising for years: some day you'll walk past a Starbucks, and a Starbucks offer will pop-up on your phone to entice you inside.

Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 4, gives developers everything they need to make this a reality. The only thing holding them back at this point is fear of user backlash against a new, intrusive form of advertising. (Does anyone actually want this?)

But that won't hold them off for long. A handful of developers are moving very close to these proximity-triggered ads, and we're confident one of them will pull the trigger soon.

The newest version of location-based social network Loopt allows users to continuously update their friends on where they are. There is also an opt-in alerts feature that sends users if they come within a given distance of a friend, provided both are continuously updating their locations. Adding a similar feature to Loopt Star, the company's deals app, is a natural next step.

Where, a local search and coupons service, introduced a service that sends users periodic text messages with deals around their current location. It's a very small jump from there to the walk-past-a-Starbucks concept, so we wouldn't be surprised if this made it in to the next version of Where's iPhone app.

Coupon app Yowza already lets users opt-in to receiving push notifications when their favorite merchants add new deals. The company will release a new version of its iPhone app later this summer, and we'd be surprised if it didn't include location-triggered push notifications.

Mobile services are wise to move slowly on this, and to make everything they do in this area fully opt-in, for now. But we expect within the next few months, there will be multiple mobile apps pushing out ads to people who walk near particular merchants. After that, it's just a matter of time before that becomes a standard form of mobile advertising.

Join the conversation about this story »

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Well Done 'Uto Ni Yalo' Crew: Captain Colin Philp & Ratu Manoa Rasigatale fo...

2010-06-29T03:56:00.003-07:00

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Well Done 'Uto Ni Yalo' Crew: Captain Colin Philp & Ratu Manoa Rasigatale for the Fijian Traditional Aspect of this Awesome Story.

via Luvei Viti: Children of Fiji by fijikiwigal on 6/26/10

Breaking the waves by Colin Philp
Saturday, June 26, 2010

"Uto ni Yalo : "Vutala na Ua"
[Image of Ratu Manoa Rasigatale in white shirt clapping with crew & families].

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=150769
WHEN we set off on March 27th bound for Auckland with a relatively inexperienced crew of 14 men and two women, we had no idea what the next 14 weeks had in store for us.
A small group of supporters and family members showed up to fare us well from the Fisheries Wharf at the Bay of Islands in Lami that day. We departed with only a few personal belongings because of the confined space and three months ration kindly donated by over 20 generous sponsors.

We are grateful these sponsors believed in what we were setting out to do, sail a 22-metre traditional double hull canoe on a 7000 nautical mile circumnavigation of the South Pacific Ocean, through five countries, over three months.

There were some skepticism but who could blame them. It took a lot of courage and determination for the recently formed Fiji Islands Voyaging Society to plan and embark on such an ambitious voyage. On a more personal level, it was important to the crew that our families believed in what we were doing.

With our planning complete, we set out without a support boat to make the 1200 nautical mile crossing to Auckland.

This first crossing was a brutal initiation for the new sailors. From day two with Vilisoni losing part of a finger during a fishing accident, we all gained a healthy respect for mother nature.
This set us up well for the remaining five days of our voyage to Auckland where we faced extreme conditions of 45 knots winds and five metre swells, most in temperatures we were not accustomed to.

In Auckland we received a memorable welcoming. This was our first 'live performance' as cultural ambassadors of Fiji and although it was a somewhat nervous start, the crew performed above expectation, worthy of Ratu Manoa's pride.

The next few days in Auckland preparing to voyage West were spent in the warm care of the Fijian community of the North Island. The love and affection we received from Fijians living abroad made us believe even more in our mission. It showcased to us how hard our fellow country men and women work when they leave our shores to make a living for themselves, all in the hope that one day they can return to their homeland.

The people we met were doctors, lawyers, nurses, business owners, hotel managers, engineers, electricians, accountants, all very successful in their own right.
I wondered how good it would be for our economy if even half of these people returned home one day.

We left Auckland thinking the trip from Suva was as bad as it gets and the rest of the voyage was going to be a piece of cake. Mother nature had more tests in store for us.
The extreme cold, constantly being wet for days on end, heavy seas and 50 plus knot winds tested the crew's resolve even more.

We started to understand the trouble our planet is in by the intensity of the storms we faced.
Teamwork grew stronger. When we finally reached Raivavae, if felt like we were reaching one of the last outposts of nature with its environment almost untouched by civilisation. As we travelled North, we were to see the other end of the scale. In Moorea we witnessed the destruction to the marine environment caused by pollution from the land.

It reminded us that "What we do to the land, we do to the ocean". We were advised not to swim in Papeete Harbour because of the pollution.

It reminded us of our own Suva Harbour and the pollution that empties into this beautiful harbour each day.

Traditions such as the kava ceremony have been lost in most countries. As we head for home from Vava'u we are sad that the voyage is over but we realise our journey has only begun.
Eighteen ambassadors for the ocean will step ashore at the Suva Foreshore on Saturday afternoon, armed with the experience of the voyage named "Vutala na Ua.

More links to Uto Ni Yalo Updates & Stories of their Voyage;

http://www.fijivoyaging.com/

http://www.fijitimes.com/search.aspx?q=captain+for+Uto+ni+yalo&cx=015317096082829226398%3Ajirrqrjunq4&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8#1335

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Scanning books at 200 pages per minute

2010-06-29T03:56:00.001-07:00

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Scanning books at 200 pages per minute

via Kirainet.com - A geek in Japan by kirai on 6/29/10

Developed at the University of Tokyo. The video explains it very well. Impressive!

More information at the IEEE Spectrum magazine.

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PDX airport now offers bike assembly station - Updated

2010-06-29T03:49:00.001-07:00

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PDX airport now offers bike assembly station - Updated

via BikePortland.org » Front Page by Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor) on 6/28/10

New bike assembly station at PDX Airport.
(Photo: Port of Portland)

The Portland International Airport has unveiled a new perk for people who travel with their bicycles: A bike assembly station.

Two Park Tools workstands.

PDX has been working to make this idea a reality for over two years, after the idea sprang forth during a brainstorming session at the 2008 Oregon Bike Summit. As we reported back in October of that year, PDX modeled their new facility after bike assembly areas at airports in New Zealand and British Columbia.

According to Jason Gately with the Port of Portland, the new bike assembly station offers a workstand with two clamps, basic tools (pedal wrench, pump, etc...), and maps and other literature about biking resources in the region. Airport employees who bike to work are also expected to take advantage of the new workstation. Tools are loaned out through the Welcome Oregon kiosk. Here's a close-up of the sign inside the assembly station:

Travel Oregon partnered with the Port on the project, seeing the facility as a way to make bike tourism more appealing and convenient. Gately sees PDX as a "natural gateway" for biking and says, "We want to promote bike tourism as much as possible."

The bike assembly station is location on the lower terminal roadway near the TriMet MAX station. Here's a map:

UPDATE: To answer a few of the questions in the comments, here's more information from Rachel Wray, Environmental Outreach Manager with Portland of Portland:

The assembly station is available 24/7. The State Welcome Center is staffed from about 8:00am – 10:00pm (I need to verify the hours, but they certainly cover our busiest times). During those hours, there is someone available to lend basic bicycle assembly tools. This feature is brand new, so it's a work in progress, but the plan is to check out tools as a courtesy in exchange for a piece of ID (drivers license). Travel Oregon will assess how this goes and adjust the check-out process as needed.

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Gunkanjima: Ruins of a Forbidden Island

2010-06-29T03:48:00.003-07:00

Sent to you by Ray via Google Reader:

Gunkanjima: Ruins of a Forbidden Island

via Gakuranman by Michael on 6/28/10

Gunkanjima – every urban explorer's dream. A deserted island of concrete ruins slowly crumbling away off the West coast of Japan. Travellers have long been forbidden to land there and view the secrets within its walls. But with an awesome guide and a little luck, I was able to do just that. Here's my story.

Night Infiltration?

Gunkanjima (軍艦島) – literally 'Battleship Island' – is the nickname for Hashima Island (端島), named so because it has an uncanny resemblance to a military warship. Once just a small reef, the discovery of coal in 1810 led to the installation of mining facilities and eventually gave rise to a population, all densely packed into a self-contained metropolis.

But by 1974, the dream was gone. Petroleum came in place of coal, the mines were shut down and the now jobless workers were forced to leave. In a matter of days the island was deserted – everything left exactly as it was, to slumber eternally in the same position like a broken clock face.

Since then visitors have been prohibited to land on this haikyo (ruined) island. Right up until April 2009, anyway. The landing ban on Hashima was lifted and the first tourist boats in years were to be allowed to land. My dream of secretly chartering a boat and infiltrating the place under cover of night was dashed.

They made it into a tourist attraction?? How could they!?

But my disappointment was not to last. While it is true that it is no longer illegal to land on the island through the designated tours, it is still prohibited to for individuals to explore deep inside. All the interesting places like the well-known 'Stairway to Hell' or 'Block 65′ may as well be invisible for all the view you'll get from behind those shiny white safety bars. Yes, it was clear no tourist trip was going to satisfy my curiosity to walk the corridors of a 100-year old structure. Live site or not, I needed to get inside those concrete relics.

An impenetrable fortress

It seemed like an impossible feat, and certainly not one I could undertake by myself. Even if I could get to the island, navigating it safely and in a timely manner would be tremendously difficult. It was my good fortune then, to meet Ikumi. Concept Designer by day; Urban Explorer by night.

It was that such meeting that led to me sitting in a dimly-lit car at 4.30am off the coast of Nagasaki. Munching on some adzuki bread in the passenger seat, I carefully eyed the figures of the local fisherman outside as they lit up their cigarettes.

"Those bastards. Look at them puffing away. The sun hasn't even peaked out yet! If any more of them come, there isn't going to be enough space on the boat…"

"Don't worry, don't worry", Ikumi comforted me. "It'll be fine. But what about those people over there..? Don't they look like photographers to you? Haikyoists, perhaps?"

They did indeed. A couple of young Japanese guys, one wrapped up in the typical 'couldn't-care-less' head towel and another with a camera draped around his shoulder.

"Might have company today…" Ikumi murmured.

It was something like Ikumi's 6th time to visit Battleship Island. I felt as though I was in capable hands. She'd briefed me on the safety aspects beforehand and how our efforts may be in vain if the weather suddenly turned.

Not long after, the fisherman began hustling aboard a boat. Ikumi ushered me to follow and we liaised with the captain. A quick nod and we were setting foot onto something seaworthy with our two photographer friends following behind. Now all we had to worry about was the landing. Apparently due to tumultuous tides and whimsical weather, being able to dock a boat on Gunkanjima can be as difficult as infiltrating the island itself.

Fortunately, today was to be my lucky day. One calm sea and one Battleship Island cast in a cold morning gloom stretched before us. Before we knew it, we had passed the sea wall surrounding the island and were breathing heavily inside.

I'm in! my brain whirred. Right, where's that ultra wide lens..? And tripod. Check. Alrighty then…

The regular tour boats would be circling the island in just a few short hours, so we'd need to make haste. So much to see! So much to shoot! I didn't quite know where to point my camera at first, but the infamous Jigokudan (地獄段) staircase (above) lay before me. It is known as the Staircase to Hell because, apparently, running up the steps will exhaust you to the extent that you feel hellish pain. No time to attempt it today though…

Snap snap. Hmm… Maybe a different angle would bring out this shot better..? Snap.

"Come on!" called Ikumi. "We've got to hurry." I quickly followed her and noticed our two photographer friends disappearing off on an adventure of their own.

Tiny, yet huge

Gunkanjima only measures 1.2km in circumference. Less than half a kilometre lengthways, I was surprised at how much smaller it was than I had been expecting.

That's not to say we got to take a good look at everything though. With stopping to take pictures and getting lost in the undergrowth enveloping the old buildings, the time quickly passed. Most of it was spent taking exterior shots. I figured that we may blessed twice and get back the following morning too. That would be reserved for interior exploration.

As it so happened, we were blessed, but even with two landings we couldn't begin to capture the full scale of the island. Block 65 (６５棟), the huge, towering concrete monstrosity that housed a great many of the island's worker's back in its heyday lived up to its reputation (below).

Ikumi had been chatting to me about how she'd like to do a sweep of the place and take a picture of every room, but after thoroughly investigating the top couple of floors, we realised it would take a good day or two to really see everything this island has to offer. We didn't even get to see half of Block 65 on our second day, but managed to find a few of the mysterious relics left lying around.

Most of the rooms were empty, save for rooting tatami mats and broken doors, so it took time for us to discover things of interest. When we did though, the feeling was so much more powerful. One such oddity we hunted high and low for was the old children's toy Poron-chan (ぽろんちゃん) – one of those self-righting dolls. Not quite the cutie anymore though…

Advancing onwards, Ikumi dipped under a ledge and took me inside another of the buildings. Clambering up a couple of flights of stone steps, we peered out into the narrow gap between the buildings with trees spewing out of the crevices. Nature slowly reclaiming the land. I hastily set up my tripod, snapped a few shots and dashed off again after Ikumi, shooting video footage as we moved. There was no other way with the limited time we had.

Around the far side of the island, a vivd blue morning sky stretched out over the old school building. Making good use of my wide angle lens, I just about managed to cram the whole thing and the next door hospital in. No time to look around inside much though.

Hopping out from the school we poked our heads inside the hospital. This island really did have everything – except for a cemetery – but only the bones of rusted medical equipment and a decapitated manikin remained. Looks like this old girl has seen better days too, judging from this old magazine cover I tracked down online…

The early morning sun on both days was stunning. With all the hidey-holes and interesting architecture Gunkanjima had to offer, we often stumbled across beautiful scenes of destruction. Here's one such shot of Ikumi enjoying the fleeting golden rays.

And yours truly striking the Gakuranman pose in a moment of excitement. Ikumi snapped a good amount of decent shots as we darted around, including the cracker at the top of this post and the eerie blue-tinted buildings. She claims her interest in photography is only secondary to her love of the explore, but I reckon she's got some talent!

Temporarily trapped?

It felt like we'd only just arrived but time soon crept up on us. By the end of the second day, I was frantic trying to see every last thing I could. This may be the one and only chance I had to explore the legendary Battleship Island, so I didn't want to miss anything.

"Mike, come on! The boat will be here soon!" came an irritated voice a couple of floors down. I was standing alone in the dim light of Block 65, trying to photograph an old Mitsubishi sewing machine.

"Okay, okay. I'm coming..!"

Snap…snap.

"Now!!"

Some of the dust fell off a nearby ledge and I could hear the rumble of our boat in the distance.

As fate would have it, departing on the second day wasn't so easy. Waiting for our ride with our backs to the inside of the sea wall, we heard a strange voice.

Fishermen, perhaps..? There were fisherman dotted around the edges of the island, after all…

But no, not fisherman. The voice gradually got louder and louder and it was then that we realised… The voice was from a loudspeaker on an approaching boat!

Damn! It's still way too early for other boats…what the hell?? I thought. Ikumi gave me a quiet, but not altogether unperturbed look. What could it be?

Turns out it was a passing tourist boat with some guy on the loudspeaker chatting about the history of Gunkanjima.

"Nobody allowed on the island for many years…completely deserted and dangerous…" said the electronic voice. I couldn't help but smile while I continued to hold my breath as the ship sailed by.

Safely back on our boat, we relaxed a little as we headed back to land, Hashima slowly getting smaller and smaller. I must have taken a few dozen pictures as we sailed away, as if desperately trying to cling to the island's disappearing form. Ikumi looked over some of the pictures we'd taken. She's taken to wearing a gas mask in pictures at the haikyo she visits, so this time she asked me to bring the gakuran to do a collaboration.

A balaclava to complete the outfit and we were set – Ninja Gakuranman and Gas Mask Ikumi! I dare not think about just how high those crumbling ledges were that we sat upon…

Once back to shore, we thanked our captain and breathed a satisfied sigh of relief as we sank down in our seats inside the car. There was still a full day's worth of haikyo explorations ahead, including a gruesome love hotel, picturesque shipyard and majestic torpedo training facility. But those are stories for another time. Gunkanjima was done and at least some of its secrets unearthed. But just how long before it beckons us again..?

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2010-06-29T03:48:00.001-07:00

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via .la douleur exquise. on 6/28/10

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