Monday, November 14, 2005

CHANGING DYNAMICS. Since this blog is devoted to the happenings within Second Life, I generally don't link to the official homepage. But when the homepage suddenly features a fully dynamic, Google Map-style interface, you know, I really should. Red dots on the map are in-world screenshots taken at that location, green dots mark upcoming events in that space. Very cool as a first view into the world, though I wonder if Residents will embrace it-- when they can teleport at will from point to point in a few seconds or fly to most locations in a few minutes, do they really conceive of Second Life as a geographic space? [New World Notes] 6:26:05 AM    comment []

November 13 and Tim Berners-Lee. "It was only in 1990,on November 13,that Tim Berners-Lee, the British-born scientist widely credited with inventing the web,sent the first hypertext document through cyberspace",this Timesonline article says. Mathew, Mark, Luke, John... and Vint [Smart Mobs] 6:21:29 AM    comment []

Ten years of Salon. From the dot-com madness to our Blackbeard-like refusal to die to making online journalism history, it's been one hell of a ride. A look back at Salon's first decade. [Salon salon] 6:20:59 AM    comment []

Stroke 'cell-death trigger' found. On BBC: Health [NewsIsFree: Popular Items] 6:20:32 AM    comment []

New Database of West Virginia Births, Deaths, Marriages. It's not complete, but there's a new database available that has information on over one million West Virginia births, deaths, and marriages. The West Virginia Division of Culture and History hosts it; you can search it at http://www.wvculture.org/vrr . You start by choosing a type of record to search -- birth, death, or marriage. For birth, records are currently limited to Calhoun, Gilmer, Hardy, Harrison, Mineral, and Pendleton county; date ranges are provided on the site. Marriage records are limited the same way, but death records are spread across a huge number of counties. Each vital records search has its own interface. I searched birth records for Smith. I got 1958 records in a table that showed name, birth date, county, and image size; name and image size are hyperlinked. Name takes you to a summary of information, while image size takes you to an image reproduction of the actual birth information. (All the ones I looked at were from birth registers, not birth certificates.) Images have a big NOT FOR LEGAL USE watermark stamped across 'em, but other than that are easy to read. [ResearchBuzz] 6:20:01 AM    comment []

The Week in Green Design (11/12/05): Green Roofs. (Cut up heavily) Jill Fehrenbacher and Sarah Rich write about the ongoing evolution of sustainable design at Inhabitat. [snip] Cool Roofs The easiest and quickest solution to combat the urban heat effect is simply to turn hot dark roofs into "cool roofs" by painting them with a basic coating of light-colored water sealant. In the same way that white clothing helps keep you cool in the summertime, white roofs reflect sunlight and heat. If all the roofs in New York City were "cool roofs", the city would save some $100 million dollars per year in cooling costs. Green Roofs An even better alternative to cool roofs (albeit one that requires more time and effort) is to turn waste roofs into landscaped Green Roofs. [snip] In this endeavor, the city of Chicago is leading the way. Chicago's Department of Environment is actually giving away $5,000 grants to any building owners who want to start a green roof project. So if you are a lucky homeowner living in Chicago, you have no excuse for not making your rooftop green! [snip] The largest "living roof" in the world was designed by environmental architect William Mcdonough, and sits on top of the the Ford Motor Company's Rouge Manufacturing Plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Other notable green roofs include the international airport in Amsterdam, and the sloped green roofs of the Palais Omnisports in Paris-Bercy. [snip] For more information on Green Roofs check out: http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2005-03-01/schwartzs-greenroofs http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/environment/20051028/7/1635 http://www.greenroofs.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_roof [WorldChanging: Another World Is Here] 6:18:57 AM    comment []

Internet Service to Put Classic TV on Home Computer. Warner Brothers is preparing a major new Internet service starting early next year that will let fans watch full episodes from more than 100 old television series. By SAUL HANSELL. [NYT > Technology] 6:01:53 AM    comment []

College Leaders' Earnings Top $1 Million. College boards are going to unusual lengths to recruit and retain effective college presidents even as tuitions soar. By MICHAEL JANOFSKY. [NYT > Education] 6:01:46 AM    comment []

The Trail of a Clicked-On Ad, Brought to You by Google. Google plans to introduce free analytical tools for online publishers and marketers, a move that would help the company's clients get a better sense of Web site traffic patterns and advertising campaigns. By BOB TEDESCHI. [NYT > Business] 6:01:41 AM    comment []

After Storm, Sales of New Orleans Guides Decline. Many publishers are seeing sales of their New Orleans travel guides plummet and when tourism and convention business returns to the city, the guidebooks are likely to be inaccurate. By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN. [NYT > Business] 6:01:33 AM    comment []

Starting a Newspaper War (of Sorts) in a University Town. Two media entrepreneurs see national business potential in taking on student-run campus newspapers. By ELIZABETH JENSEN. [NYT > Education] 6:01:26 AM    comment []