Flat!

Fine warm Sat in NYC

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SWITL Picks Up Semi-Liquid Materials #DigInfo

Jaw-dropping. Jason Kottke couldn't have said it better: "And here I am, still using paper towels like a sucker!"

(via kottke.org)

Not your typical DIY

My close friends can testify how much I like reading DIY tutorials latelty. Not sure I will delve much into this one, though.

(via In Focus)

DIY Weapons of the Libyan Rebels: "

For the past four months in Libya, rebel forces made up of civilians and army defectors have been waging battles against Muammar Qaddafi's armed forces, holding their own and sometimes advancing with the assistance of NATO air strikes. Scrambling to arm themselves against mercenaries and a professional army, rebels have been making use of everything they can -- from using captured weapons and munitions to rigging anti-aircraft guns and aircraft rocket launchers to the backs of civilian pickup trucks. Collected here are recent images of some of this weaponry used by the Libyan rebels. [34 photos]

At a weapon workshop in Misrata, a Libyan volunteer fixes a UB-32 rocket launcher pod, attached to the back of a pickup truck on May 28, 2011. The UB-32, a launcher designed to fire Russian S-5 rockets, is normally mounted on an aircraft. (Reuters/Zohra Bensemra)

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magic school bus

Today's xkcd comic is hilarious (and full of color!):

My first thought: when I was kid, it was Encarta! (you get to read a similar statement if you hover your mouse on the comic in their webpage, so I assume the cartoonist and I are from the same generation.) It was the great beginning of the so dangerous copy-paste technique.

I could diverge to many topics from here, like truly, who buys encyclopedias nowadays? Is this also one of the reasons why they are cutting the budget of the NYPL system? It's truly a pity, but I can see why this occurs in a city as money-driven as this is :(. I hope the branch that I go to (Morningside Heights) doesn't close as long as I live here.

I will stick to the Wikipedia topic today. It's amazing how an open source webpage became the main point of supply of knowledge for everybody. It is also a topic of several PhD theses how and why people contribute to the articles. I was utterly amused last week when I read that Sarah Palin's supporters had modified Paul Revere's Wikipedia page to match it to whatever she said on a TV interview (see news here). I mean, how crazy is that?

Which brings me to the next and last question: Have you ever even tried editing an article of wikipedia? I know I haven't, and I was surprised when a good friend of mine here at school did it when he spotted a mistake. However, I am proud to say that I did donate 10USD to the webpage. What are the true inner motives of people to act this way? I wonder.

Grasshopper tacos banned at SF taqueria

Sad news from Boing Boing. I have to admit I do understand the position of the FDA, especially after the E. Coli break out in Europe. However, there should be a way of overcoming the problem, albeit with all the red tape typical of these conflicts, it could probably take a very long time. *sigh*

Here's the Re-blogged post:

Grasshopper tacos banned at SF taqueria: "

San Francisco Health Department has banned La Oaxaqueña Bakery and Restaurant from selling their famous grasshopper tacos. I've never tasted them but I certainly would! The problem isn't that they're serving grasshoppers, but rather their Oaxaca grasshopper source isn't FDA-approved. (Photo of 'A basket of Chapulines (Roasted Cricket) in a market in Tepoztlan, Mexico' by Meutia Caerani/Indradi Soemardjan.) From KGO:

(Proprietor Harry) Persaud says grasshoppers are a traditional food in his native Oaxaca.

'They're eaten on every street corner in Oaxaca, they're sold in all the markets and they've been doing that for decades,' Persaud said.

In fact, Persaud says he gets the grasshoppers straight from Oaxaca, along with the mole and the tortillas, to make his food as authentic as possible...

'They want us to get grasshoppers from here, United States,' Persaud said.

Even though Persaud has a permit to import the grasshoppers, the health department says the place he is buying them is not FDA approved. In fact, they said they do not know of any federally approved source for grasshoppers.

'SF won't let restaurant owner sell grasshopper tacos'


"

how our skies were looking like yesterday night

http://twitpic.com/59b078

pretty scary. I love NYC skies; they bring all sorts of feelings to the city.

summary for yesterday's evening:

the bad: I couldn't go to the supermarket + the black eyed peas concert at Central Park was cancelled (can't imagine the disappointment/mess-to-leave-the-park for the lucky ticket holders http://yfrog.com/h0r6twdj)

the good: temperature chilled a bit

binary pictures

Today's super find: Textify.it. It's a web app (also available for iPhones - not Android :( ) where you can make text/numbers/other forms pointillism versions of your pictures... It has a pretty good controls menu on the right, where you can choose how dense you want the picture, which characters you want to use, which font... anyway, without further due, here is an example of how it works.

I turned this:

into this:

Somehow, it reminded me of the matrix movie, in color version.

(via kottke)

the dangers 3-way NYC streets

This video* is simply awesome. It exposes very clearly the recklessness of many of us new yorkers while going around the streets. However, is it me or it seems like the cyclists do the craziest things? I think I saw at least two of them going wrong way in the middle of the cars (!!). How to avoid these things? Is it lack of education? Should we add yet another expense to the government and ask for biking licenses? Or should policemen be able to fine them? How do you enforce such laws?

On a more personal note, as an everyday pedestrian I really dislike aggressive yielders, but putting myself in their shoes and remembering my driving times back in Mexico City, I can see how they could be very frustrated by just trying to take a right turn and not being able to due to an excess of pedestrians. Obviously, I am in for giving the right of way to pedestrians, as long as they rightly have the right of way (valga la redundancia). Anyway, do click on the link. It is good 3 min of well done fun.

(via kottke)

*I am sorry I can only embed it comes from youtube... at least, apparently.

la course

Finally! After several months of inactivity, Paris vs New York does it again:

la course: "

"

I like running, but given my back conditions, I don't think I will ever run a marathon. As for being a waiter... I wouldn't mind trying, but I am so absent minded, I would probably get fired after 2 days ;).

make your day a happy one

Talking about being picky with blogs, there is one I totally fell in love with a while ago: Oh Happy Day.

Jordan writes about ideas to make your parties fun and original, as well as about how to keep in touch with your loved ones in cool ways. I love her DIY projects because they are pretty doable (you don't need weird material to follow them). e.g. I made a pop up bday card for a friend following this post in no time. It was a very nice surprise for him (and everyone else who signed it!). Too bad I didn't take a picture of it before giving it away : P.

Another reason to like her blog? She is doing a giveaway for a 7 DAY TRIP FOR TWO TO PARIS, FRANCE! How cool is that? If you want to know more about it, go to http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris/. Obs, I already liked the blog on facebook  :).

another friday

Today F and I went with some friends to watch Hangover 2. I did not watch the first part, but F did -- a couple of times. While it was a bit too sexually explicit for me at times, it was pretty funny. It actually kept me tense for quite some time (I know it's tension when I have to hold F's hand when I watch a movie). We had a very good time overall, which made it worth it.

On my blog findings of today, I looooved these bookshelves. And, as it usually happens when I find something like this, I started following Books at Home. I am trying to be pickier with blogs, since I shouldn't have the time to browse all of them, so we'll see how long this one will stay on my list.

Anyway, time to prepare to go to bed... which might mean, of course, just about 30 more min of blog browsing :). Good night, everyone!

Ages

xkcd today on Ages: ""

trying to upload from phone, 2nd time

Pic from plane last Sunday between SFO and NYC. I have to confess I have a thing for clouds.

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"a trip around our solar system"

In our last day in Moscow, F and I went to the Space Museum. In it you can find all sorts of cosmonautic memorabilia: from the first dogs that came back from the space alive (stuffed) to models of the Soyuz spaceship to which you can take a look inside. This museum puts together very nicely the effort of many people: from scientists to technicians, and maybe even politicians throughout these decades. The achievements have been amazing and proof of that is this breathtaking post of Alan Taylor for The Atlantic in his section, "In Focus":

A Trip Around Our Solar System: "

Robotic probes launched by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and others are gathering information for us right now all across the solar system. We currently have spacecraft in orbit around the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Saturn; several others on their way to smaller bodies; and a few on their way out of the solar system entirely. On Mars, a rover called Spirit has just been officially left for dead, after two years of radio silence from it -- but its twin, Opportunity, continues on its mission, now more than 2,500 days beyond its originally planned 90-days. With all these eyes in the sky, I'd like to take the opportunity to put together a photo album of our Solar system -- a set of family portraits, of sorts -- as seen by our astronauts and mechanical emissaries. [38 photos]

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite captures an image of the Earth's moon crossing in front of the Sun, on May 3, 2011. (NASA/GSFC/SDO) 

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Another couple of quinoa recipes...

I'm awful. Instead of cooking and then writing about these recipes, I am just posting them. Well, I guess that's how it will be most of the times :). I need to put them aside somehow and I am just checking if posting them on this blog will work. If you do try any of them, please comment :).

Quinoa, Lentil Sprout and Arugula Salad - Recipes for Health: "Use lentil or sunflower sprouts, which have a peppery flavor, in this well-textured salad."

Quinoa and Beet Pilaf - Recipes for Health: "This beautiful pink pilaf is made with roasted beets and their greens, so little is wasted."

Quinoa Pancakes - Recipes for Health

About a year ago I discovered quinoa (reading a cooking blog, of course). Not only it is versatile, I really like the texture it brings to salads and, more over, it is very healthy. With summer around the corner, I thought of looking for some new salad recipes, but instead I stumbled on a pancake recipe published in the NYT (!). Looking forward to trying it!

Quinoa Pancakes - Recipes for Health: "Quinoa can make buttermilk pancakes surprisingly thick and moist."

back from oblivion

After more than four years of posting nothing, I decided to start sharing again. I can't really say I will be writing, because the main reason I decided to resume my blogging activity is that I want to have some sort of vault where to share all the links that I stumble upon every day.

It is unexpected how much I have come to like blogs. I really like reading about the everyday life of other people... as if I was to complement my own (?). I also like posting stuff that I deem cool. It's as if the collection of links that I choose to share somehow defines me and my web-self. Now I want to spice that up with a bit of my own. I recently got a smartphone and I am eager to learn how to swiftly share whatever pops up on my way.

I am not sure what will come out of this. I am pretty sure the first posts will likely be merely experimental, but I will try to create my own trail on the way. I just hope I will enjoy creating my own blog as much as I am enjoying reading others' and hopefully at the same time I will be sharing cool stuff you :-).