According to new research, there are a few super plants that can remove all VOCs from indoor environments. Of course, it would be better if we could build things without emitting chemicals into the air we breathe, but hey, there are a lot of things we could do better aren’t there. Check out the article for the plants and more information on the study.
How to open a bottle of wine?
recycled cassette tape thin necktie
These limited edition sonic fabric neckties are woven from 50% recorded audio cassette tape and 50% coloured thread. The fabric is actually audible if you run a tape head over it!
Thanks, Spookas.
Why does it feel like the internet is turning into an infomercial?
What do Jack Layton and David Byrne have in common? …Along with Toronto Cyclists Union executive director Yvonne Bambrick and urban designer Ken Greenberg, Layton and Byrne will discuss the potential of urban planning — specifically, bike lanes — to improve the political climate of cycling in Toronto and around the world.
Still, this business of my giving away e-books is a controversial subject. I encounter plenty of healthy skepticism in my travels, and not a little bile. There’s a lot of people who say I’m pulling a fast one, that I’d be making more money if I didn’t do this crazy liberal copyright stuff, or that I’m the only one it’ll ever work for, or that I secretly make all my money from doing stuff that isn’t writing, or that it only works because I’m so successful. Of course, when I started, they said it only worked because I was so unknown. People want proof that this works—that I’m not deluded or a con artist. But it’s hard to prove. I don’t have a time machine I can use to republish all my books without the free downloads and compare royalty statements.
And the skeptics aren’t the only people who claim I’ve got it wrong. There are also the True Believers. The True Believers are the people who say that I’m a fool to give 90% of the cover price of my books to the publisher and bookseller. After all, I have three or four million people a day who read my blog. I could just self-publish all my material and get it directly into the hands of my readers, and pocket the lion’s share of the income. I’m a contrarian on both of these propositions: that I’m losing money by giving away e-books, and that I’m losing money by using a publisher. I have a nice little Goldilocks gig going—not too hot, not too cold, just the right amount of DIY, independent publishing and just the right amount of professional support and administration from my publisher to sell.
But I’m as curious about both propositions as anyone. While it’s fun to argue about whose intuition is more correct, I think facts on the ground beat a priori assumptions every time. So I’ve come up with an idea to get some facts in evidence, while making some money and raising a little hell.
My Secret Playlist is a site where great musicians, bands and djs compile and present their own playlists of the 8 songs they are into right now. It’s meant for music discovery, and after a year of posts, there are some impressive participants like Midlake, Plants and Animals, Weezer, the B52s and Lou Barlow.
The commentary is great too, like this bit from Richard Conti on a Beatles track:
The Beatles / You Know My Name Look Up the Number
Preempting the next sentence, I know what is about to be stated will sound ridiculous because hip-hop has sampled from even pre-60s eras. But the first six seconds of this song is possibly the first hip-hop beat. It is the first time a beat actually sounds like a sampled hip-hop beat before the concept existed. And I hate to give the Beatles anymore credit, because they have so much already. If I’m not wrong, you heard it from me first.
Check it out.
Calvin and Tyler Durden… via juliasegal:
A friend of mine had a status update that made me think it would be a good ad for a certain product.
That made me realize, you could probably do that with most status updates.
So, here’s my new game: for every status update, come up with the product, service or organization it could be advertising.
aand. go!
