architects:
Lee Polisano – Kohn Pederson Fox – Arquitectonica – Caputo Partnership
Year of completion:
2015
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Foto© icegolem 13-01-2010:
What a gorgeous way to stay mindful of what kinds of local produce are in season. And even if you don’t garden, we love the connectedness of knowing what farmers and gardeners are sowing each month. Krankpress makes these lovely perpetual calendars for west-coasters from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest.
architects:
Lee Polisano – Kohn Pederson Fox – Arquitectonica – Caputo Partnership
Year of completion:
2015
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Foto© icegolem 13-01-2010:
For many years we’ve questioned the logic of courts banning people from the internet for committing some sort of internet crime (mostly commonly sexual offenses online). Many courts have decided that it’s ridiculous to ban people from the internet in an era when the internet has become so integral to our lives and our jobs. And, as more content and services move to being online only, it gets even sillier. If you’re banned from the internet can you use a Kindle? What about a VoIP phone? It gets confusing fast. Luckily it looks like yet another court has thrown out an internet ban on a sex offender as draconian and a potential violation of the guy’s free speech and association rights.
While there’s been some split in the courts, it looks like many are starting to question such bans, given how ubiquitous the internet has become. And yet… just as this is happening, we have the entertainment industry pushing hard to kick people off the internet for a small number of accusations (not convictions) for file sharing. Seeing as the courts are already claiming that internet bans — even for online sex offenders — is too draconian, how can anyone justify an internet ban as being a fair and equitable “punishment” for being accused (not convicted) of sharing some music?
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Hugh Hefner’s barely-legal Buss It Babies are leaving the nest. Shocking, we know. Twins Kristina and Karissa Shannon are moving out of the mansion, the Playboy founder Tweeted Tuesday.
“The Shannon Twins are growing up. They’re moving to the Playmate House with my blessing so they will be free to do other things.”
Hef explains that the girls are looking to get more involved in “Playmate-related promotional work for the company.”
“They’ve been hanging out with a lot of the other Playmates and they see these girls traveling across the country to do promotion,” he told E! News of the twins. “They would like to be doing that, too.”
The girls will move out of the mansion and into the Playmate House — just down the street — in the next couple weeks.
“When they thought about it, they thought it was a good idea,” he said. “They will now be friends, but they won’t be defined as the girlfriends.”
In the meantime, the Girls Next Door star is focused on getting more “serious” with third girlfriend Crystal.
I blogged yesterday “Google attacked and likely to exit China” and “Flowers for Google.cn“. I will try to write some more when I can find some quiet time to write. In the mean time, Jeff Jarvis has an insightful post “What Google should do” on this Google.cn decision. It is a great read. Here is one excerpt (with emphasis added),
“I know some will say that Google wasn’t doing that well in China anyway (it controls 31% of the market); they’ll ascribe cynical motives. But I say: Name one other company that finally said “enough!” and put ethic, morals, and company standards over its lust for the Chinese market. Not Yahoo. Not Cisco. Not Nokia. Not Siemens. Not The New York Times Company. Google has.“
Have a read of the Atlantic writer James Fallows’ article “The Google news: China enters its Bush-Cheney era” for some insightful analysis and discussions. After reading Jeff’s articles, I don’t know if The Economist’s “Google errs – Google’s plan to withdraw from China may be as much about poor business prospects as ethics” has much leg room to stand on. See also BBC “Chinese surprise at Google pull-out threat” (note: I am not surprised at Baidu’s responses which, in cases like this, I see as another mouthpiece for the Chinese government. Think, what can a Chinese company do? Even Google has to be clear that its Chinese employees are NOT involved in this decision!!!).
And I plan to watch Jeff’s Apr 2009 talk (YouTube) at Google’s offices in Washington later when I find some time.
Again, I will try to share more of my thoughts when I can find some quiet time to write.
Posted in Business, China, Democracy, digital democracy, Digital-Revolution, Economics, Google, Law, media, people, social media, social network, Video, YouTube 
BERLÍN, EFE
La canciller alemana, Angela Merkel, equiparó la defensa de la variedad ecológica con la lucha contra el cambio climático y exigió “un giro” de la política para la protección de las especies “ahora mismo y no en cualquier momento”.
La protección de la naturaleza y de la diversidad de las especies biológicas es necesaria también en el ‘combate’ contra la transformación climática, afirmó la Canciller en un acto con motivo del comienzo del Año Internacional de la Biodiversidad.
Más acciones
Merkel advirtió que descuidar la biodiversidad puede acarrear, al igual que el cambio climático, costes enormes, a la vez que anunció la disposición de su gobierno a conceder ayudas financieras para la protección de los ecosistemas amenazados.
Tras calificar de “atemorizadora” la creciente extinción de especies animales y vegetales, hizo un llamamiento a la población para que todos hagan su pequeña aportación y subrayó la necesidad de “desarrollar una conciencia social”.
Durante el acto en el Museo de Ciencias Naturales en Berlín, la Canciller federal señaló que la diversidad biológica protege también la salud humana, si bien reconoció que las metas planteadas por las Naciones Unidas para frenar la extinción de las especies hasta 2010 no se podrán cumplir.
La política cristianodemócrata destacó que la protección de las especies es también ayuda al desarrollo y reclamó la creación de una red mundial de espacios protegidos, así como de un organismo de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente.
… and, of course, Diabetes, again.
Barred from using lead in children’s jewelry, some manufacturers in China are substituting the more dangerous metal cadmium in charm bracelets and pendants being sold across the U.S. Many of the toxic pieces are sold in popular stores like Wal-Mart, Claire’s and dollar stores. Read more about the harmful effects of cadmium and get a list of recalled jewelry related to this story. Photo by: GeekMom Heather
I show my G1 off to a lot of people. I love to wow them with cool apps like Google Sky Map, Plink Art, and Shop Savy. Invariably the question comes up, “How many apps are there for that phone?” Thanks to Apple’s marketing efforts, consumers have been brainwashed into thinking quantity trumps quality. Fortunately, we have people in places like Mplayit who are doing their part to show that the number of apps means nothing to casual users.
“‘How many apps?’ is the wrong question,” said Michael Powers, CEO and founder of Mplayit. ”People just want to get the job done. It doesn’t matter if there are 50 different to-do list apps on iPhone, because Android or BlackBerry just need a couple of good ones to make consumers happy.”
I couldn’t agree more. There are already a ton of “crapplications” in the Android Market that I just skip over as I look for better titles. I couldn’t imagine having to cut through 4-5 times the volume. Android apps are getting better all the time, adding more features and polish to them. I’m very satisfied with where we are today in terms of apps, especially as many of the popular iPhone titles get ported over. Often these apps pick up additional features thanks to Android’s capabilities.
Does anyone really see the Android Market limited in terms of selection? Leave a comment below!
Autori: Svebor Andrijević, Otto Barić, Senka Dombi
Investitor: CGP d.o.o. Zagreb
Stambeno-poslovna zgrada Ban centar gradi se na centralnoj gradskoj poziciji u osjetljivoj kontaktnoj zoni donjogradske blokovske strukture i bogate povijesne jezgre Kaptola.Građevina je programski definirana kao stambeno-poslovna zgrada sa 5 podzemnih i 8 nadzemnih etaa. Četiri najnie etae zauzima garaa za potrebe zgrade. Javni i poslovni prostori s lokalima raznih namjena zauzimaju -1. etau, prizemlje i 1. kat. Stambeni dio (66 stanova) protee se od 2. do 7. kata. Projekt je rezultat dvosmjernog promiljanja: konkretnog reagiranja na kontekst i jasnog konceptualnog stava o interpoliranju nove arhitekture u postojeću blokovsku matricu.Pristup je definiran suvremenom reinterpretacijom proučene tipologije ugrađene kuće zagrebačkog bloka. Nova zgrada je implantat koji u urbanom kontekstu afirmira profile okolnih ulica, definira mjesto (trg), potencira kontakt vie povijesnih tipologija i kvalitativno nadograđuje unutranjost bloka intimnim javnim sadrajima i zelenilom.Postojeća morfologija sugerirala je dvojak pristup formiranju gabarita građevine; vanjska opna je čvrsta i napeta i proizlazi iz geometrije građevnih linija okolnih zgrada te definira perimetar bloka, dok je unutarnja razvedena to je ponovo kontekstualni i tipoloki refleks postojeće rahle stukture.Forma je rezultat modeliranja masa i ploha proizalih iz postojeće tektonike. Plohe susjednih pročelja, mase postojećih blokova, kao i nagibi krovova i linije vijenaca nastavljeni su i nadograđeni novim volumenom. On je rezultat superponiranja svih prepoznatih urbanih elemenata. Sjeverni zavretak nove zgrade tlocrtno je otklonjen prema zapadu, čime se oslobađa pogled prema kompleksu Katedrale. Na sjevernom pročelju predviđene su dvostruko ostakljene loggie; unutarnja stijena je klasična, posmična, dok je vanjska niz zaokretnih staklenih panela. Juno pročelje čelja uvlači se terasasto prema viim katovima radi udaljenosti od susjedne građevinske parcele i kvalitetnije insolacije. Blok je novom zgradom zatvoren, dovren, a istovremeno se otvara njegova unutranjost. Prodorima u prizemlju javni prostor se uvlači u blok postepeno preuzimajući intimniji karakter. Formira se otvorena djelomično natkrivena pjeačka ulica sa stambenim ulazima, dječjim igralitem i zelenilom. Stvoreni ambijenti nisu konačni, ostavlja se prostor za eventualno sveobuhvatnije uređenje bloka u budućnosti.
it tells the story of a man clyde, his wife and daughter. one night two robbers invade his home and brutally kill his wife and daughter, however he manages to survive. the killers are soon caught and somehow make a deal for prison sentence, and he is told that is how the system works. later clyde sees his prosecutor shaking hands with one of the killers, he feels that he is betrayed and the system must be fixed.
ten years later, clyde returns with his master plan to fix the system by starting with murder the killers who killed his family. clyde is put into jail and once again faces with his prosecutor to warn him that either the system is fixed by his method or soon everyone connected with his case will die.
the script is quite interesting and captivating at first, then it falls short. i guess it could be a good grade b movie with a-list stars. especially the end that makes no sense at all. if you want to make a good drama thriller film, take a look at v for vendetta! gerard butler, i will never going to see your movie again ever.
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movie: halloween | director: f. gary gray | release: 2009
Whenever I prepare for our bi-weekly theme review, I find myself hitting a few sites regularly. We always review Hedone Design themes, and it’s a rarity this week that they’re not included. Another regular stop is Cherri Chiodo’s All Things Berry. When I visited her site recently to check out her new themes, I learned some bad news. Her daughter has been diagnosed with Retroperitoneal Undifferentiated Sarcoma, and has been undergoing chemo and radiation treatment. So, before we dive into the theme reviews this week, I’d like to offer my thoughts and prayers to Cherri, her daughter, and her family. No one deserves to go through this.
Google dropped a bomb yesterday, not merely for the technorati, but also for the world at large, by exposing Chinese attempts to hack into the networks of major U.S. companies as well as the email accounts of human rights activists. Google subsequently said it would no longer censor its web page in China, and would reevaluate its business operations in the country. So far, everyone from Om to Hillary Clinton has had something to say about the move, but in order to understand how the world beyond Silicon Valley sees it, we turned up some sources you might not go to on an everyday basis.
From China Daily (from the official Chinese newswire Xinhua):
Google’s possible retreat from China has prompted the company’s 700 China staff to fear for their jobs. “We were told that Google might quit China at a general meeting on Wednesday morning, and all of us feel very sad,” said an employee with Google’s Beijing office on condition of anonymity.
According to ChinaYouren:
The way the message has been drafted, chances for Google.cn to remain are slim. It will be very difficult for Google to step back from this, the whole tech World is going nuts about it. On the other hand, it is even more difficult for the Chinese authorities: even if they were willing to accept Google’s conditions (which they are not) they could never allow a Western company to publicly force their policies. Unless there is some kind of recanting, Google.cn is doomed.
China Digital Times has collected and translated tweets about the decision, including this one:
– @hecaitou: After Google leaves China, the world’s top three websites on Alexa —Google, Facebook and Youtube are all blocked in China. This is not an issue of Google abandoning China, but one of China abandoning the world. #googlecn
And from RCoversation:
On the other hand, a short Chinese-language report in Sina.com’s tech section is generating a long thread of comments from people who are unhappy about Google’s announcement because they don’t want to lose access to Google. Somebody has set up a website, http://www.googlebacktochina.com/ with a Chinese header that translates approximately as “Give me back my Google.” Famous tech blogger Keso mourns that Google’s retreat brings the Chinese Internet one step closer to being an Intranet.
And from Ars Technica (I know I said I wouldn’t use the usual tech suspects but the image they present of the history of Chinese hacking is first-rate):
As to goals, one of the biggest is ripping off research breakthroughs in order to save time. The report notes that “Chinese industrial espionage is providing a source of new technology without the necessity of investing time or money to perform research… Chinese espionage in the United States, which now comprises the single greatest threat to US technology, according to US counterintelligence officials, is straining the US capacity to respond. This illicit activity both from traditional techniques and computer-based activity are possibly contributing to China’s military modernization and its acquisition of new technical capabilities.”
And finally, this from The Atlantic:
But there are also reasons to think that a difficult and unpleasant stage of China-U.S. and China-world relations lies ahead. This is so on the economic front, as warned about here nearly a year ago with later evidence here. It may prove to be so on the environmental front — that is what the argument over China’s role in Copenhagen is about. It is increasingly so on the political-liberties front, as witness Vaclav Havel’s denunciation of the recent 11-year prison sentence for the man who is in many ways his Chinese counterpart, Liu Xiaobo. And if a major U.S. company — indeed, Google has been ranked the #1 brand in the world — has concluded that, in effect, it must break diplomatic relations with China because its policies are too repressive and intrusive to make peace with, that is a significant judgment.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr user permanently scatterbrained
Memo sent by “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” director of animation Richard Williams to his animation department. “Even now (an unbelievable 22 years later) the most hardened critic would have difficulty finding fault with the near-seamless interactions between [Roger Rabbit’s] live-action and animated characters.” [thx JH]
Published Jan. 11, 2010
By Molly Kelleher, KEPR TV
Map to Overflow Parking at CBC
KENNEWICK — We’re taking action for you about parking problems at Columbia Basin College. There are more students fighting for fewer spots on campus.
We got an e-mail from a viewer upset about parking at CBC.
She asked what could be done about it and students are also sounding off on CBC’s Facebook page.
It’s the No. 1 complaint on campus: not enough parking.
The toughest time for finding a spot is in the morning until about 11 a.m. Action News tested it out by driving around the campus at that time.
It was hard to find a spot. And that’s not news to Bill Saraceno, senior vice president of administration at CBC.
Action News asked, are there enough spots for the number of students you have?
“Yes, just not in the areas they want, Saraceno said. The increased enrollment has made the problem more immediate. Our classes are 90 percent full and so our parking lots do fill quicker in the early morning.
On the far north side of campus near Argent Street, CBC is going to put in more parking in two years’ time.
“250 to 300 spaces, but people don’t realize parking costs money, Saraceno said. Its $6,000 per stall for gravel pavement and lighting the lot.
But that’s two years away. So what can you do in the meantime? Park out by the baseball fields and by the observatory. It’s certainly a bit of a hike, but it’s practically wide open.
Otherwise, you’re taking a risk of getting a ticket. The fines you pay will pay for that new lot. And with lots as full as they are these days, that new parking may be paid for in no time.
Published Jan. 12, 2010
By Dori O’Neal, Tri-City Herald staff writer
Ron and Vicki Gerton will show pieces of their art at a joint art exhibition starting Jan. 11 in the Fred Esvelt Gallery at Columbia Basin College in Pasco.
An opening reception for the artists is at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 12 in the gallery. Admission is free.
Ron will show his sculpture and Vicki will exhibit a selection of her fabric art.
Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.
Public health officials in the U.S. are worried because nearly a third of births here are c-sections, more than twice the rate public officials say would be appropriate. But in China, the rate is far higher: 46%, according to a WHO study published this week in the Lancet.
The study looked at data from hospitals in nine Asian countries in 2007 and 2008; China’s rate was highest by far, with Vietnam second, at 36%. The rate for the region as a whole was 27%.
In each country, researchers looked at deliveries in hospitals in three different regions. To be included, a hospital had to do at least 1,000 deliveries a year, and to do at least some c-sections. Because smaller facilities which may have far lower rates were excluded, the findings may not be representative.
Still, roughly a quarter of the c-sections done in China and examined in the study weren’t medically necessary, the researchers found. When a Caesarean isn’t medically necessary, a traditional birth is safer, according to this study as well as previous research.
The study didn’t get into the reasons for the c-section rates. But a commentary that accompanied the study called the results “surprising and chilling.” The authors, based at a hospital in Singapore, add that “financial incentives for doing these procedures should be removed or kept to a minimum, and both public and continuing medical education should emphasize the risks of unnecessary caesarean delivery.”
Image: iStockphoto
Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) has received a new shipment of H1N1 influenza vaccine and will distribute it at a clinic open to all members of the Harvard community under age 65.
The clinic will be held Jan. 19 from noon to 3 p.m. in Monks Library at HUHS in the Holyoke Center.
Flu season is not over, and HUHS would like to remind students, faculty, and staff to remain vigilant about monitoring and combating flulike illnesses. The best way to stay healthy is to practice good hygiene. Wash your hands often with soap and water or hand sanitizer, such as Purell. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or use the crook of your arm when you cough or sneeze, to protect others. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth to avoid spreading infection.
Public health officials have indicated that HUHS will receive additional shipments of vaccine at regular intervals, so additional clinics could be scheduled shortly.
More information about H1N1 and the vaccine can be found at www.harvard.edu/h1n1. For information about the clinics.
