40 Noises That Built Pop

Some of the most distinctive and, in no particular order, the records that best showcase them.

Not a bad list, but there could be so many more...

I would have called "29) Gated Reverb Drums, Phil Collins"
Steam drums, first heard ona Peter Gabriel record, but used alot by Collins and his producer on Phil's solo records.

Climate models need revision: The Cosmic Ray cloud formation efffect proven

This is big, cosmic rays and cloud formation and volcanoes are major factors in determining our climate trends. People do factor into it, but people cannot account for half of the effects.

The Earth has been hotter and much colder than it is now so some natural process was likely to be a cause.

Climate models have always been know to be flawed, for example they failed at back predicting known historic climates, so this will help remove some of the pointless speculation based upon obviously flawed climate models.

CERN's 8,000 scientists have made an important contribution to climate physics, prompting climate models to be revised.

Svensmark, who is no longer involved with the CERN experiment, says he believes the solar-cosmic ray factor is just one of four factors in climate. The other three are: volcanoes, a "regime shift" that took place in 1977, and residual anthropogenic components.

When Dr Kirkby first described the theory in 1998, he suggested cosmic rays "will probably be able to account for somewhere between a half and the whole of the increase in the Earth's temperature that we have seen in the last century."

13 year old creates design to bbost solar output 20-50% over flat panels

Boosts 20% in Summer and amazingly enough 50% in Winter.

Mimicking how trees do it, which is a very clever idea, re-using the information developed over millions of years of tree design...

The tree design takes up less room than flat-panel arrays and works in spots that don't have a full southern view. It collects more sunlight in winter. Shade and bad weather like snow don't hurt it because the panels are not flat. It even looks nicer because it looks like a tree. A design like this may work better in urban areas where space and direct sunlight can be hard to find.

processing.org - Open Source images, animations, and interactions

Initially developed to serve as a software sketchbook and to teach fundamentals of computer programming within a visual context, Processing also has evolved into a tool for generating finished professional work. Today, there are tens of thousands of students, artists, designers, researchers, and hobbyists who use Processing for learning, prototyping, and production.

Have not downloaded it yet, but it looks fascinating. See examples of what people have done.

» Free to download and open source
» Interactive programs using 2D, 3D or PDF output
» OpenGL integration for accelerated 3D
» For GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows
» Projects run online or as double-clickable applications
» Over 100 libraries extend the software into sound, video, computer vision, and more...
» Well documented, with many books available

Suppressing climate research

The cosmic ray cloud formation correlation has been suspected for sometime, if these reports of trying to suppress confirmation of parts of the experiments looking into this are true that will be big news. Not surprising in that obviously CO2 has risen over the past decade and temperatures have not. And the revelation that scientists used only part of tree ring data to manufacture the "hockeystick" graph shows we are well past science and into the realms of religion with some climate research.

Weird request here to not interpret experiment results.

CERN Director General Rolf-Dieter Heuer told Welt Online that the scientists should refrain from drawing conclusions from the latest experiment.

“I have asked the colleagues to present the results clearly, but not to interpret them,” reports veteran science editor Nigel Calder on his blog. Why?

Consensus, forbidden, hidden data, destroyed data source information, plenty of words to start to fear the warmist propagandists.

The CERN experiment is supposed to be the big test of the Svensmark theory. It’s a tipoff, then, that CERN’s boss, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, has just told the German magazine Die Welt that he has forbidden his researchers to “interpret” the forthcoming test results. In other words, the CERN report will be a stark “just the facts” listing of the findings. Those findings must support Svensmark, or Heuer would never have issued such a stifling order on a major experiment.

See here for more information.

One of six widows on the cloud mystery, about an hour long and well worth watching.

The world has sen many ice ages, so we better understand the real natural effects on climate as well as how much we influence climate before we attempt to do anything about it.

And one other link that has an interesting graph on it. which looks like there is a correlation with cosmic rays and global temperatures.

Emerging Epicenters of High Tech

Cluster Mapping Project at Harvard Business School for the top 20 job-creating areas for the following fields: Plastics, Chemicals, Automotive, Aerospace vehicles, Information technology, Biopharma, Metal manufacturing, Communication technology, Medical technology, Analytical instruments, and Electrical equipment.

Looks like some geographical diversity.

Small Cities Feed the Knowledge Economy

Livable cities draw creative people, and creative people spawn jobs. Some places you’d never expect—small cities not dominated by a university—are learning how to lure knowledge workers, entrepreneurs, and other imaginative types at levels that track or even exceed the US average (30 percent of workers).

Case Study: Omaha, Nebraska

It’s only the 42nd-largest city in the US, but over the past two decades, Omaha has been transformed into one of the Midwest’s most vibrant cultural hubs. Here’s how the rebirth happened, starting in the ’90s.

Gear Fab: BMW Powered Twin-Rotor Hoverbike

A fabulous Gear site feature a hover bike.


Estimated at $40,000, if it is ever built.

I would like to see a ballistic parachute, airbags, landing legs/wheels/skids, a lower center of gravity for the center of mass, but for an initial design it looks pretty cool.

Besides recreation uses, would be great for military, police, security, deliveries, and maybe even commuting. Imagine all the tickets revenue sources coming from licensing and improper vehicle use for state and local governments...

‘Dear Mr. Fantasy, London Calling

play us a tune, something to make us all happy

For the mix of the track "London Calling," Strummer described an image of the London fog swirling off the river Thames, with seagulls circling overhead.

and more

Night panoramas

Some nice night photos.

Almost inspires one to go camping.