September 2008
Monthly Archive
September 9, 2008
the early universe: we win
Posted by Alexis Madrigal under Miscellaneous | Tags: science |Leave a Comment
September 9, 2008
check my material flow
Posted by Alexis Madrigal under Miscellaneous | Tags: code, infrastructure |1 Comment
So what is the optimum strategy for transporting goods over a particular route? Where could costs be saved by using inland waterways, and at what point would it be best to transship to a road or rail vehicle? What is the cheapest, fastest, or most environmentally compatible overall solution? All answers can be provided by the new software package.
Despite all those DHL and UPS ads, figuring out how to ship a containerful of toys from China to the states or bauxite from Utah to New York isn’t actually easy. There are whole companies who do nothing but help other companies move whatever they make near the people who might buy it. These logistic companies, with no public reputation to worry about, are pretty immune to consumer-driven change, but they do want to save on fuel.
That’s why I’m glad that researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics are working on logistics software that will help these distributors find the most environmentally-friendly and cheapest ways of moving goods around the world. it reminds me of the work that Dawn Danby is doing at Autodesk to bring environmental planning tools to designers working on products. Both pieces of software offer a a carbon footprint preview at a stage in the process where it can still be changed.
September 3, 2008
virtual globes
Posted by Alexis Madrigal under Miscellaneous | Tags: mapping, science |Leave a Comment
Since NASA World Wind (2004) and Google Earth (2005) brought the concept of a Virtual Globe into the general public’s consciousness, our concept of how to view the planet we live on has permanently changed. Similar to the way the internet changed the way we store, access and sort information, Virtual Globes are reshaping our perspective of how best to visualize geospatial data. One the key components of this evolution has been emergence of Keyhole MarkUp Language (KML) as the preferred code for adding and controlling content in these technologies. Now recognized by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) as an international standard, KML is now increasingly supported by a range of platforms, including Google Earth and Maps, NASA World Wind, ESRI ArcGIS Explorer and Microsoft’s Virtual Earth and EarthBrowser.
The Virtual Globes at AGU session seeks to provide a forum for users to exchange ideas, promote concepts and demonstrate innovations using KML and/or globe and other geobrowser technologies.
September 3, 2008
i <3 nowhere, ak
Posted by Alexis Madrigal under Miscellaneous | Tags: alaska, politics, vp |Leave a Comment
September 3, 2008
the birth of a wired feature on charlie kaufman
Posted by Alexis Madrigal under Miscellaneous | Tags: journalism, transparency, wired |Leave a Comment
An almost-real-time, behind-the-scenes look at the assigning, writing, editing, and designing of a Wired feature. You can see more about the design process on Wired creative director Scott Dadich’s SPD blog, The Process. This is a one-time experiment, tied solely to the Charlie Kaufman profile scheduled to run in our November 08 issue.
All detailed by Nancy Miller and Jason Tanz, two of my favorite Wired Mag editors. They are honest and funny, and smart (of course). It’s like reading your cool friend’s email thread with his/her new love interest (you know, the early ones where they are trying, flush with excitement and willing to be metabolically wasteful by throwing the full weight of their life experience into each paragraph) when they’re in the bathroom at the coffee shop. Not that anyone would do that. Or has.
September 3, 2008
local is a type of production, not a distance from your house
Posted by Alexis Madrigal under Miscellaneous | Tags: local, antilocal, consumerism, artisan, socially responsible |Leave a Comment
It’s WorldofGood.com’s goal to remove these “frictions,” in Haji’s words—deterrents to the efficiency and transparency of global marketplaces like these.
The dual values of localism and globalism need to get balanced in the current “GOOD” movement.
Local actually means a type of production, not a distance from where you are. It’s confusing. The problem is that scaling something up isn’t just about making it bigger; the processes have to change. It’s more like “growing up” with all the attendant morphing we associate with that condition than it is like “expanding in volume,” which is simple.
So, perhaps there is a better word for local. Slow, for the record, is not the word. Artisan has too many weird connotations. Antiglobal is strident and not actually the point. Socially responsible is so boring, you fall asleep saying it. Any ideas?
Image: flickr/JunWen77
September 3, 2008
Damn! This (Lil) Green Patch thing has nearly 5.5 million monthly active users. (Making it among the very most popular Facebook apps.) What’s more, all those virtual plants have raised nearly $55,000 for the Nature Conservancy’s Adopt An Acre program.
Created by David King and Ashish Dixit, (Lil) Green Patch cleverly leverages roleplaying game mechanics for ecological good.
A standard reality game.
September 1, 2008
the percentage of alaskans you could fit in 10 square miles of:
Posted by Alexis Madrigal under Miscellaneous[2] Comments
All 670,000 Alaskans would fit into roughly this much of Manhattan:
September 1, 2008
he said it
Posted by Alexis Madrigal under Miscellaneous | Tags: alaskamfer?, diddy, election, mccain, obama, palin |Leave a Comment
YouTube – Diddy Blog #16 – “John McCain Is Buggin The F%^k Out’”!.
I think Diddy’s sentiment at 3:29 really sums up the mood of America, “Alaska, motherfucker?!?”
