Google it.

The word Google has become synonymous with web browsing search engines; it's even considered a verb.

"Have you heard about this? No? Google it."

Well, I did. Google, the verb: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060629-105413

At some point, Google Inc. thought this may be a negative thing and was attempting to protect their brand.

Well now, there's http://www.cuil.com/.
Constructed by ex-Google employees, this new search engine is pronounced "cool".

Here's an interesting article about the concept behind Cuil.com

CCM - Formula One (1973).


Racing stripes.

Beijing 2008: Olympic Architecture

With the Beijing Olympics just around the corner (August 8 - 24th) there has been a flurry of articles to read-up on before the games begin. Subjects ranging from the removal of dog meat from hotel and restaurant menus, unfavorable weather meddlings on 08/08/08, and another on the strict and tunnel-visioned rules applying to foreigners attending the Olympics. Those and many other articles providing insight into the process of hosting the Olympic games have given us, media-biased like-it-or-not, a picture of the other side of the world. It is an image which peers into the life and culture shared by over 1 billion people - in China alone.

Here's an interesting article about Beijing's "Olympic face-lift"

With pictures of Beijing being plastered everywhere around the globe, each one speaking a thousand words, the Olympic architecture was destined to have a profound effect on the outside world looking in.

Here are a couple of articles (and pictures) about the larger-than-life buildings erected for the 2008 Olympic games:

1)http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/07/beijing_2008_preparations_thre.html
2)http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/gallery/2008/feb/08/architecture.china?picture=332441725
3)http://www.china.org.cn/english/2004/Jan/84895.htm
4)http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071212.BEIJING12/TPStory/specialTravel/?pageRequested=2



"Bird's Nest" designed by Swiss architects Herzog and De Meuron.


Olympic Aquatic Center.


Central Chinese Television building designed by Ram Koolhass.


Completed Central Chinese Television building (rendering).


Beijing Airport Terminal designed by Foster + Partners.


National Grand Theater by French architect Jean Andreu.

Take a peek at the Olympics' official website: http://en.beijing2008.cn/

Geo.

Take a minute to check out this user-friendly way of seeing every corner of the Earth.

It'll take you 'round the world in 80 seconds: http://www.earthalbum.com/

On a more serious note, this analogy facilitates an understanding of the severity of our present situation here on Earth.

Reality check warning: http://www.miniature-earth.com/

One final thought - courtesy of Oscar Wilde:

(Image: coolcards.co.uk)

Leaf vein shadows.

DNA Intercontinental Superhighways.

This is an article from the Scientific American by Gary Stix. In it, he discusses a method of retracing early modern human migrations by comparing mitochondrial DNA mutations (which act as "molecular clocks") from different regions of the world.

This would give you the ability to retrace your lineage back to its founder - potentially, the founder of all humans as we know them...That brings us back to about 250,000 years ago. At 30 years per generation, that's 8333 generations. Big family tree - the entire human race et al.

Read about the Neanderthal in you:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-migration-history-of-humans&print=true

twenty-four.

Brasilia - Project gone 'wrong'?

This is an interesting article about Brasília, the capital of Brazil, and how (urban planning & design-wise) it came to be (around 1960).


(Image: Wikipedia)
It was designed to resemble an airplane or a butterfly when viewed from above.

Read about the origin of Brasília here.

And make sure to lookup some of the buildings (of Oscar Niemeyer's) which the writer discusses in the article. Like this one...


(Photo by Styliane Philippou, from Oscar Niemeyer: Curves of Irreverence, Yale)
The Supreme Court by Oscar Niemeyer - Brasília.

These are also interesting to see:
- Cathedral Brasilia Niemeyer
- 3-D model of the Pampulha church

Natural disasters...can help us?

...economically. Although, not always.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/07/06/how_disasters_help/?page=full

Similarly, but on a much grander scale (according to Bill Bryson):

Crises in the Earth's history are invariably associated with dramatic leaps afterwards. The fall of the Ediacaran fauna was followed by the creative outburst of the Cambrian period. The Ordovician extinction of 440 million years ago cleared the oceans of a lot of immobile filter feeders and somehow, created conditions that favoured darting fish and giant aquatic reptiles. These in turn were in an ideal position to send colonists onto dry land when another blowout in the late Devonian period gave life another sound shaking. And so it has gone at scattered intervals through history. If most of these events hadn't happened just as they did, just when they did, we almost certainly wouldn't be here now.

ooo...videos too!

Video of Canada Day celebrations (courtesy of Karen - on my shoulders!)


WARNING: This next video is has hypnotic effects on certain individuals. If you like your monitor, please watch this before you eat.


Wind spinner.

Don't mind me. Just flexing my blog muscle...