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Also, I don't know if you caught it, eric, but End of Suburbia is on this Wednesday at the Metro (7:00).
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January 07, 2005 -- 4:25 PM
posted by eric
d'you know why "The New York Times Magazine" is da shit? they're year in Ideas Annual, that's why foo!
peep this:
Exoskeleton Strength The sci-fi author Robert Heinlein had the idea first: in his 1959 novel, "Starship Troopers," soldiers stepped into suits of powered armor to make themselves stronger, faster, and generally better prepared to fight off alien hordes. This year, Homayoon Kazerooni, an engineering professor at the University of California at Berkeley, amde the idea a reality by introducing a set of high-tech leg braces called the Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton, or Bleex. Strap it on, and a load once backbreaking suddenly feels no heavier than a couple of copies of the Sunday paper.
Bleex is a set of modified combat boots, attached to what look like metal braces that snake up the sides of the legs. The prosthetics, which operate with the assistance of a Pentium-5-equivalent processor, are connected to a vest and backpack. About 70 pounds of gear can be crammed into the pack. But once the exoskeleton is turned on, it feels like only a five-pound load; the mechanical legs pick up the rest. Bleex 2, scheduled for June, should be able to carry 150 pounds and amble at a four-miles-an-hour clip.
Noah Shachtman
I'd type out the rest of the article but i gotta go to work now. it's great shit like that and the feature on EYEBALL JEWELRY (yeah, that's right, RIGHT ON THE EYEBALL) that make that Year in Ideas annual da shit.
January 07, 2005 -- 3:32 PM
posted by Par
Actually, the point wasn't "I told you so." (Although, technically, I couldn't have told you so because, well, I didn't know.) Rather, I was trying to highlight that the solution that seems to be globally accepted is to create a multi-billion dollar warning system rather than to abandon the shrimp farms.
Even more interesting is that any argument you can make against the mangrove solution (costs too much, wouldn't have saved everyone, too much work) can be made in exactly the manner against a warning system. But that won't stop us from building an early warning system (though it's nice to know that India has re-evaluated the whole natural solution idea.)
As much of a technophile as I am, I have to say that, more often than not, the non-tech solution is the best one. Not that the people who come up with technical solutions aren't brilliant, but no brilliant scientist or engineer can measure up against millions of years of testing for efficacy and side effects.
January 07, 2005 -- 3:29 PM
posted by eric
yeah End of Suburbia is playing with Bookmobile or something. should be good. i was gonna go see it during Global Visions (actually, the director was at that screening) but i didn't go. i've got an .avi of it and i've been watching it here and there. it's not bad.
January 07, 2005 -- 3:17 PM
posted by alison
This is the multipurpose post:
Eric, have a lovely time at Halo, I have family obligations to stuff myself full of Ukrainian food and listen to incredibly embarassing stories into the wee hours.
Par, it's totally true too. Mexicans talk about it all the time, that the mangroves create this amazing buffer from hurricanes and all the crap they throw at the shore. And it sure is true that lots of the mangroves (that only grow on the coast... as all mangroves do) have been cleared to make way for shrimp farms and settlements. But you never get anywhere by saying stuff like this... unless you really want the title of self-righteous idealist, so I dunno... is there an "I told you so" or is this more of a "just keep your mouth closed" kind of situation? It's just so completely true, albeit who knows how much they would've prevented... they just would've helped a lot.
And, seriously, the End of Suburbia is at the Metro next wednesday? I've been wanting to see that movie forever...
January 07, 2005 -- 2:47 PM
posted by Par
People in Soviet Russia, however, appear to be afflicted with amusing juxtapositions of the aforementioned situation. -- Slashdot comment.
January 07, 2005 -- 12:57 PM
posted by Par
It's interesting to contrast this widely-reported story:
In a bid to reduce the appalling toll of future tsunamis, the United Nations is moving ahead with efforts to set up early warning systems in the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas similar to one that already exists for the volcano and earthquake-prone Pacific Rim region.
with this statement:
Mangrove perform many functions, serving as breeding ground and home to many species (75 percent of the tropic's commercial fish species spend part of their life cycle in mangrove swamps), acting as water filter, and offering critical protection against shoreline erosion. In the last few decades, half of the mangrove forests in the world have disappeared. Over half of those losses are attributed to shrimp aquaculture.
Sometimes, removing this vital mangrove buffer can spell disaster in a more dramatic fashion. In 1991, thousands of people were killed in Bangladesh when a tsunami descended upon a stretch of coast cleared of mangroves to produce shrimp farms.
(note: this comparison was inspired by an article in SEE by Vandana Shiva which is, unfortunately, unavailable online.)
Sometimes, removing this vital mangrove buffer can spell disaster in a more dramatic fashion. In 1991, thousands of people were killed in Bangladesh when a tsunami descended upon a stretch of coast cleared of mangroves to produce shrimp farms.
(note: this comparison was inspired by an article in SEE by Vandana Shiva which is, unfortunately, unavailable online.)
Also, I don't know if you caught it, eric, but End of Suburbia is on this Wednesday at the Metro (7:00).
January 07, 2005 -- 12:03 PM
posted by eric
(Be warned, it's long...)
RIFF! The Real Independent Film Festival...
Jan. 14-16, 2005
Queen Alexandra Hall, 10425 University Avenue
~ Some of the hardest hitting ‘real’ reality programming you won't see on TV ~
War, Globalization, Peak Oil, 9/11, Missile Defence, Weaponization of Space, Environment, GMO's, Food Security, Consumerism, Sustainability, Money,
Urban Design, Peace, Social Justice, Civil Liberties, Media Democracy
Session 1. Media Democracy / Perceptions Fri. Jan. 14, 3 - 6 pm
Independent Media in a Time Of War
www.hm.indymedia.org / www.democracynow.org
Orwell Rolls In His Grave
www.orwellrollsinhisgrave.com
State of the Union
www.4seasonsproductions.com
Session 2. Activism / War / Globalization Fri. Jan. 14, 7 - 12 pm
Grass Through Concrete: The Struggle to Protect the Red Hill Valley
www.grassthroughconcrete.com
Jenin, Jenin
www.jeninjenin.org
In Whose Interest: The Practical Horrible Realities of Power
www.thirdstonefilms.org
The Red Pill
www.davidsheen.com/redpill
Surplus: Terrorized into being consumers
www.atmo.se/zino.aspx?articleID=382
Session 3. Money / Bankers / Globalization Sat. Jan. 15, 10 am - 2 pm
The Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control of America
www.themoneymasters.com
Money: Who Creates It? Who Controls It? Who Profits?
Session 4. Food Security / GMO's Sat. Jan. 15, 3 - 6 pm
Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World
www.soundandfuryproductions.com
Food on Earth
www.thirdstonefilms.org
The Future of Food
www.thefutureoffood.com
Session 5. Latin America / Globalization / War Sat. Jan. 15, 7 - 12 pm
Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War Failure
www.freewillprod.com
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
www.chavezthefilm.com
VENEZUELA BOLIVARIANA: People and Struggle of the Fourth World War
www.calleymedia.com
Storm Before the Mountain
www.bignoisefilms.com/storm/
The Fourth World War
www.bignoisefilms.com/home.htm
Session 6. Anarchy / Spirituality / HAARP Sun. Jan. 16, 10 am - 1 pm
A Peace of the Anarchy: Ammon Hennacy and other Angelic troublemakers in the USA
http://movies.lovarchy.org/POA/
Crisis of Faith
www.4seasonsproductions.com
Holes in Heaven
www.haarp.com
Session 7. Civil Liberties / Space Weapons Sun. Jan. 16, 2 - 6 pm
Liberty Bound
www.libertybound.com
Arsenal of Hypocrisy: The Space Program and the Military Industrial Complex
www.arsenalofhypocrisy.com
Full Spectrum Submission: The Disgrace of Canadian Complicity in the Weaponization of Space
www.thedreamofcanada.ca
Session 8. War / Media / Deceptions / 911 Sun. Jan. 16, 7 - 11 pm
Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11 Fear & and the Selling of American Empire
www.mediaed.org
The Great Conspiracy: The 9/11 News Special You Never Saw
www.greatconspiracy.ca
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
www.outfoxed.org
* Entire festival pgm. interspersed w/
Indymedia Newsreal (Best of 2003/04),
assorted shorts, animations, web flash, etc.!
Festival Pass $ 20
Day Pass $10
Session Pass $ 5
(These prices are rough.
Pay more if you have it and less if you don't.)
Tickets become available from 12 noon Fri. Jan 14 at QA Hall
Bring your own bum cushion (wooden chairs)
Food will be available.
RIFF is presented in co-operation with:
CAWR – Coalition Against War and Racism
Sierra Club of Canada - Prairie Chapter
Edmonton Small Press Association
Rainbow Bridge Communications
Tooker Gomberg Memorial Funds
Earth’s General Store
International Funk
Bio-Freedom
APIRG
Please bring community announcements and related info to share.
Queries can be emailed to:
Kelly (416) 766-0218
http://www.boilingfrog.ca
or
Edmonton Small Press Association (ESPA)
(780) 434-9236
"People Before Profits, Collaboration Before Competition"
http://www.edmontonsmallpress.org
January 07, 2005 -- 12:00 PM
posted by eric
i believe Edmonton's favourite Weakerthansiz are throwing a CD release this weekend. and next friday is their navelgazer sister's release.
5 O'clock Charlie w/ AA Soundsystem & Red Not Evil
Saturday Jan 8
@ Sidetrack
Storyboard w/ Por Nada & Clinker
Friday Jan 14
@ Seedy's
Division & Wellesley w/ Petkau & Darren Day
Saturday Jan 15
@ Seedy's
Limblifter w/ Doubting Paris
Thursday Feb 17
@ New City
January 07, 2005 -- 11:54 AM
posted by eric
Al, if no one else is offering, i can give you a ride, but it's a little out of the way for me. unless of course i'm picking up Clarky. but yeah, call me at like 7 or something.
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