park3's posterous

Yikes! 29% of US believes climate change is either a hoax or not a significant concern (via NY Times)

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:22:18 -0800

A survey conducted in late December by Yale University and George Mason University found that the number of Americans who believed that climate change was a hoax or scientific conspiracy had more than doubled since 2008, to 16 percent of the population from 7 percent. An additional 13 percent of Americans said they thought that even if the planet was warming, it was a result solely of natural factors and was not a significant concern.

via nytimes.com

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Technology Review: What's Wrong with Venture Capital?

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:17:22 -0800

After all, even though venture investors undoubtedly put too much money into me-too software companies and clean-tech firms that never panned out, would we really have preferred that money to have gone into some bank's collateralized debt obligation instead?

via technologyreview.com

Good article on the state of the VC industry and why it matters to anyone who is not a VC.

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What 1835 Chile quake taught Darwin - CNN.com

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:11:55 -0800

Not only did he collect widespread evidence of the uplift of the coast during the earthquake, but traveling inland and into the mountains, he discovered a series of remains of marine shells -- proof that the shifting that had recently uplifted the coast by a small amount had occurred over and over in the recent geological past.

The experience convinced him that the great geologist Charles Lyell was right -- mountain chains were not created by sudden immense catastrophes, but grew almost imperceptibly, the product of thousands of successive uplifts over almost endless geological time.

via cnn.com

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The Teen Brain: It's Just Not Grown Up Yet (via NPR)

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:02:48 -0800

Jensen says scientists used to think human brain development was pretty complete by age 10. Or as she puts it, that "a teenage brain is just an adult brain with fewer miles on it."
But it's not. To begin with, she says, a crucial part of the brain — the frontal lobes — are not fully connected. Really.
"It's the part of the brain that says: 'Is this a good idea? What is the consequence of this action?' " Jensen says. "It's not that they don't have a frontal lobe. And they can use it. But they're going to access it more slowly."

via npr.org

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Hiller Aviation Museum birthday party

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:46:23 -0800

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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The sign said chain controls but it looks like a closed road to me. Could be a long trip home

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:02:14 -0800

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Ski-ing in the rain, just ski-ing in the rain ...

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:52:34 -0800

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Ezra crosses GGB on own bike; calls it windy, cold, crowded, noisy and boring. True 'nuff

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:06:51 -0800

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This would have made my life easier in high school. Wi-Fi School Bus (via NYTimes.com)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:18:52 -0800

It’s made a big difference,” said J. J. Johnson, the bus’s driver. “Boys aren’t hitting each other, girls are busy, and there’s not so much jumping around.

via nytimes.com

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Leftover food art: composition #49. Either a lobster a tree or a menorah

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:02:58 -0800

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Storm surge on Sausalito bike path

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 11:32:23 -0800

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Bluebird powder day at Vail

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:55:15 -0800

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On top of the world

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:29:39 -0800

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Email or call to cast your vote for a West Span Bay Bridge bike lane!

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:33:26 -0800

West Span Bicycle-Pedestrian-Maintenance Pathway would be cantilevered off both sides of the upper deck of the West Span, and would complete the world-class bikeway all the way across the Bay from Oakland to San Francisco. Features of the Pathway include benefits to motorists such as emergency access, refuge for stalled motorists, and reduced lane closures for bridge maintenance.

BFBC NEWS SPECIAL BULLETIN:

Bay Bridge West Span Pathway–

your help is needed NOW!
The next two weeks are CRITICAL to winning our 12-year campaign for a Pathway all the way to San Francisco from the East Bay. Don't leave the dream of shore-to-shore access dangling over the waters halfway!
On Wednesday, January 27, at 10:00 AM, elected officials will vote to increase bridge tolls, but they are not supporting our Bay Bridge West Span Pathway and they need to hear from us–bigtime! A proposed toll increase could fund the remaining half of the pathway on the West Span, and complete the Alex Zuckerman Pathway currently under construction on the East Span of the Bay Bridge.
This is our time, and likely the only chance we have for seeing both spans of the Bay Bridge Pathwayopen at the same time. Yes, a completed Pathway by 2013–sweet! This decision is purely political, which means your presence and voice will make a difference.

via app.e2ma.net

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Soggy mileage

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:13:42 -0800

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Adobe Systems & wind power in downtown wind tunnels

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:46:38 -0800

Adobe's headquarters, for example, consists of three office towers whose roofs are too small for a sizable solar system. But the towers funnel wind into a courtyard where Adobe employees play basketball and bocce. Even on days when the air seems still elsewhere in downtown San Jose, the courtyard has a breeze.

"We knew we'd created a wind tunnel here," Knox said on a recent gray morning, as he watched the wind turbines spin silently along the edge of the courtyard. "In an urban environment, there's a lot of wind tunnels, even at ground level."

via sfgate.com

The intersection of Market St., Polk and Fell could use some wind turbines. The wind funnels through that intersection so strongly I bet it could run all the traffic lights downtown.

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A Few Internet Users in China Find Ways Around Filters - NYTimes.com

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 08:40:16 -0800

AnchorFree, a start-up based in Sunnyvale, Calif., has built a profitable business by providing free, advertising-supported software called Hotspot Shield that tunnels about 7.5 million people around the world into the Internet by encrypting Internet users’ data and cloaking their identities.
But last summer, the Chinese government blocked AnchorFree’s Web site so that Chinese citizens could no longer download the software. Almost immediately, its users began e-mailing their own copies of the program to friends and posting links to other sites that hosted it. The program’s use in China has doubled since then, said David Gorodyansky, AnchorFree’s founder.

via nytimes.com

Ban something and demand doubles. Classic

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Really great - Chinese Build A Shrine Outside Google Beijing

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:47:42 -0800

via businessinsider.com

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Advanced Imaging Reveals a Computer 1,500 Years Ahead of Its Time (h/t @internetcases)

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:47:00 -0800

via io9.com

Cool stuff

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Breaking boards at karate bday party

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:04:53 -0800

Download now or watch on posterous

IMG_0033.mov (1579 KB)

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