You have to have a look at this google site. I caught it via the Guardian

It is the “virtual journey“ marriage of 150 hours of video and mapping the Trans-Siberian Rails.

Going to have to get a nice bottle of vodka, some black bread, dill and cheese and reminisce.

In Automator, create a new service:

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Change “Service receives selected” to files or folders in finder

Add Copy to Clipboard action

Save as Copy Path

You are finished.

This is a step in the right direction for the government of Russia’s environmental policy. I’m very excited.

This photo I shot today was inspired by the documentary Scott Walker – 30 Century Man. It is the first photo in a series I am interested in developing called Hold On.

You can view this splendid Stephen Kijak film on DVD or stream it online via Netflix.

If you dig Brian Eno, David Bowie, Radiohead, any sort of Avant-garde music, see where they got their inspiration. Here is some more info at IMDB and Wiki.

I am still very frustrated to report that problems still persist with Mac laptops running OS 10.4.x-10.5.x and Wifi N routers. I have spent many months looking through countless support sites, forums and blogs to find a solution to this problem. All I have found is a horde of frustrated Mac laptop users who are desperate for a fix from Apple. Check out the view counts on some of these posts.

57,776 views?!?! Come on Apple. Fix this already… Pretty Please?

/begin rant/

I think that Apple needs to do some re-evaluating of their software release schedule/quality control. At this point I would rather wait and have them get it right then put out subpar updates and fall into the downward spiral pattern of “the rest of them”. My confidence has been shaken and I’ve been a mac fan since the beginning. I just want Apple to split off the iPod/Phone/TV etc. into its own division and to get back on track with the Mac line starting now. We need this stuff to work to make a living and this takes a higher priority in my mind than new twiddle apps on the iPhone.

I do own two iPods and an iPhone but would chuck them in a river to get Leopard working solidly with the majors like Adobe, Extensis, Epson, as well as stable networking, syncing and backups. Apple really has their hands full at this point with a large list of bugs. I really wish them well but can’t say I’m in the least bit happy as a consumer at this point. For the first time in a long time I feel sheepish when answering whether or not I’d recommend a Mac, and that hurts me deeply for some reason.

/end rant/

So back in my days of working at SmartHomeOwner magazine (published by Navigator Publishing in Portland, ME) I remember reading something about solar shingles and also printable solar material. Effectively the printable solar material is a thin aluminum substrate with some copper, indium, gallium and selenium nano-ink printed on it and then covered with another conductive layer. This wondrous $1per watt miracle has been branded the Nanosolar Powersheet (read more in this article by PopSci.)Here is a clunky but good illustration of it by Popular Science. (it ends on a magic toaster at that point the illustration is complete.)10 Questions with Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen from Earth2Tech.comInnovaLight is also making a “printable“ thin-film silicon ink solar solution. You can read about them on their site and also on Earth2Tech.com.With all of this goodness happening in the Solar world I am mounting my research campaign to get our current or next house outfitted with both solar electric and solar heat and hot water systems. I would like to combine them with a geothermal heat/cool system as well. I am hoping my stalwart research habits and dogged observance of neo-tech will help bring this to a tangible reality within a year or two’s time. Wish me luck.Here is Maine’s government resource page for Maine Renewable Energy Programs. It is a start.

Made it out to White Island of the Isles of Shoals to visit my brother Dan his wife Melissa and my niece Emily. We arrived in Portsmouth after a quick drive down from Portland. We did some food shopping for the island and then packed our gear on the Shoals lab boat Kingsbury that would take us out. When we arrived at Appledore Island where the Shoals Marine Lab is we helped unload the cargo hold full of supplies. It was packed to the rim with everything from fresh produce to massive logs of cream cheese. A huge group of students and faculty came to help unload and it was quite a sight. There must have been more than 50 people all lined up in a chain gang all the way up from the dock to a small dump-body truck and a few other small utility vehicles. We unloaded hundreds of boxes in no time with each person only having to hand it a few feet to the next person. I felt like I was a worker at the the base of a big ant hill and it the experience was quite calming. No thought, just pass the box, get a box, pass the box. Quite lovely.

We then departed Appledore on the Kingsbury and another member of Shoals Marine Lab followed us in a 12 foot Zodiac boat to help us land on White Island. Last year a landing ramp was installed here which helped our landing tremendously compared to the last time we visited Dan a few years back. That time was a wet landing in decent swells and chop and the shore changes with the weather. Sometimes it is almost like a rough beach and others it is very rocky. We made a much smaller chain gang this time. 3 people. Missy, Nicole and I. Dan went back to the boat that was drifting a few hundred yards off shore to get the rest of our gear. We had just missed Susie an intern for the last 2 years being pecked on the top of the head by a tern. She was bleeding pretty good Missy had said but was doing fine.

We lugged our tubs of clothes, bedding, laptops and cameras up to the house on White Island where they all stay. Since last year, the terns have expanded their habitat from the adjoining Seavy Island to White, encroaching on the house and surrounding areas. In order to walk from shore to the house you had to walk through a flock of dive-bombing terns protecting their nests. Dan’s solution is to carry a stick with bright paint on one end and wave it above you as you walk to avoid being pecked in the head. I chose the rudimentary arm wave. I could hear when they were getting close but I’m sure my method is flawed and I’ll have to have a dent in my cranium before I use the stick method. Nicole took to the preferred method instantly and was quite cute traipsing the board walk through the tern’s turf like a cartoon band leader.

We got unpacked and realized that we left the pump for the air mattress at home. Luckily they had a quite effective boat pump that Nicole mastered and we were running in no time. I debagged all of our gear. I think I was a bit overzealous with the waterproofing. Next time I’ll ease up for sure. Our gear could have taken gale force winds, sideways rain and sea-foam no problem. With the new ramp this was entirely, flat out over-kill. I do tend to err on the side of cautious but at least if something happened our gear would have been fine.

We spent time with Emily, cute as the dickens and had some wonderful stir fry for dinner. Dan showed me around a bit and everyone was preparing for the next day’s tern census. I’ll have more later but here is a quick shot I got with the lighthouse to my back of Seavy Island, the the terns and the sunset. Now to see if we can sleep through the foghorn that sounds every 30 seconds, 24/7/365. One tends to forget its existence after the first day we’ve been told and experienced but it will be interesting to see if that happens every time you visit or if you only don’t sleep well the first time out. Wish us luck!

High tide covering the land bridge between White and Seavy Island at sunset with the New Hampshire coast way off in the distance.

Looks like the Brain Cloud™ (not to be confused with The Human Brain Cloud) from Joe vs. The Volcano wasn’t so far-fetched—or have to be terminal.

It is put forth by russian scientist Oleg Shumilov of the Institute of North Industrial Ecology Problems that during periods of heightened geomagnetism people commit experience higher rates of depression and commit suicide more frequently. It sounds reasonable enough.

If what he and other studies have noticed holds up to the scrutiny of the scientific method, the knowledge that human’s internal clocks etc. could be affected by magnetic fluctuations from solar flares could be the difference between being depressed with hope that a change is in sight versus becoming progressively more depressed and eventually suicidal. It is definitely reason enough to warrant more study.

Pining for another sushi and sashimi night…

I was thinking back to a sushi and sashimi night that Nicole and I spent with Tim and Rachel. It was a blast. I get so much pleasure in the process of preparing the sashimi, maki rolls etc.. It pairs well with a few sakes and catching up with friends. I can’t think of a better meal.

I need to find a left-handed yanagi ba (sashimi knife) that doesn’t cost as much as a car.

We buy all of our sashimi quality fish at Browne Trading Company in Portland, Maine. If it is good enough for chefs chefs Eric Ripert, Emeril Lagasse, Charlie Trotter and Daniel Boulud, then it is good enough for me. The have great diver scallops that still wiggle with you flick them they are so fresh, Kona kampachi, an excellent selection of both wild and farm raised salmon, bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, various flavors of tobiko, caviar, their own boutique smoked salmon, prawns, fluke, you name it and it will pass their counter at some point. Believe me when I tell you that I have yet to get a better piece of fish from a fishmonger in my life. They also have the one of the best selections of wine and sake around. I have left many a paycheck at this fine establishment.

I am drooling with Pavlovian lust, I must go.