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• Project Tandem

  Starting this October, as part of Project Tandem, two kids will ride about ten thousand miles on bikes, over about 365 days, in a "down and dirty operation" to document countless stories of small-town Americans. The focus: folks working to change the planet for the better. And probably, a good deal of whatever else people want to talk to them about.
  
  After their studies in photography, co-founders and co-bikers Alan Winslow and Morrigan McCarthy took a crash course in documentary radio production at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies (a school that celebrates similarly awesome projects like StoryCorps), and are currently training (that means cycling a lot) to take their mics, cameras and two touring bikes on a giant year-long loop starting and ending in Virginia.
  
  (Try to) keep up with them as they navigate America's cultural and literal topography, chatting up strangers and ambushing local diners, on Project Tandem's blog.
  
  Via Salt
  
  Photo: Morrigan McCarthy and Alan Winslow
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  • Date: Aug 19 2008
  • Posted by alexandra_m

• Intermission

  We spotted this stunning, slow-motion skate video on Kottke early this morning, and we haven't gotten any work done since.
  
  
  skate - shot on red - 120 fps from opus magnum prod. on Vimeo
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  • Date: Aug 19 2008
  • Posted by Patrick James

• Bridge To Terroristia

  Sheikh Tarek bin Laden (the non-terrorist brother of Osama) is endeavoring to link the African and Asian contents with an 18-mile bridge across the Gate of Tears (the strait that connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea). In order to do so, he will create cities (that currently don't exist) at the future endpoints of the bridge (in Yemen and Djibouti).
  
  From The Independent: "The new metropolises, the Saudi developer claims, will be the envy of the world: the finest hospitals and schools, world-class universities and sporting facilities—everything will be the biggest and the best. Building them will require a staggering influx of migrant labour. The Djibouti city alone needs 850,000 workers—the country's entire population (children and babies included) is 800,000."
  
  Is there anything more amazing than a tale of two to-be-constructed self-referential cities getting connected by a bridge that doesn't exist yet? Yes: the 98 more the Sheikh might build in other parts of the world. Awesome.
  
  Note: We are fully aware that this headline is both offensive and misleading, but so is this afterthought. The sad truth of the matter is that being a Bin Laden is pretty much the same thing as being a Baldwin—you're born into a rich and hairy frat-pack with one standout (Alec, Sheikh Tarek), a bunch of others that no one cares about, and an unequivocal black sheep (Stephen, Osama) that ruins the name for everyone. That said, headline suggestions are always welcome.
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  • Date: Aug 14 2008
  • Posted by Patrick James

• Intermission

  If you've never seen an ice-skating monkey, today is your lucky day. Well, almost. We're pretty sure this guy's a chimp. Some day though, some day.
  
  
  
  Via Random Good Stuff.
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  • Date: Aug 13 2008
  • Posted by Patrick James

• City Of Are You Kidding?

  What do Israel, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and China have in common? Oil money, sure... Contentious relations with the U.S., at times... Now, thanks to Kuwait's development of a Dubai-esque utopiatropolis, these places will all be linked by railway. Plans are in the works to connect Israel and China via Damascus and Baghdad with a train line. The railway is a component of Kuwait's $132-billion-dollar development of the City of Silk (Madinat Al Hareer), where "no one will ever be more than three blocks from water or gardens... a vast National Wildlife Refuge is in the works... and medical treatment along with fresh, healthy food will be accessible on foot for 80% of residents." Sounds pretty ok. And the ability to travel from Israel to China by train definitely ups the adventure potential for your average backpacker, and lowers the carbon footprint. Slated to be finished by 2023, the City of Silk plans also include the construction of the world's tallest skyscraper, at 1001 meters. Talk about lofty goals. Hopefully they're not planning to hire twirly towers guy. Via Inhabitat
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  • Date: Aug 06 2008
  • Posted by alexandra_m

• Emission Impossible

  SAM is a Zero Emissions Vehicle from Cree that is completely electric and 90% recyclable. Not only does it boast an environmentally-thoughtful steampunked-batmobile aesthetic, but it does so for the somewhat reasonable price tag of 6,600 Euro (or $10,158). Look for it in 2009.
  
  Via Inhabitat.
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  • Date: Aug 05 2008
  • Posted by Patrick James

• Walk Easy

  Walk Score, a website that calculates the walkability of American neighborhoods based on the density of stores, schools and other essentials, just released its rankings of the most pedestrian-friendly places in the U.S. San Francisco edges out New York for the number one spot. (Gotta watch out for those counter-culture Bay Area libertines...always walking everywhere and stuff). Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles all make it into the top 10.
  
  Wait...Los Angeles? So their algorithm has some problems. If you can walk to a 7-11, that counts as having a neighborhood "grocery store." But the effort they've put in to Walk Score since we checked last and the overall attention to methodology make us big fans of the site. They're also taking action, pushing for changes to the 2009 Transportation Bill.
  
  Photo from charlene.
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  • Date: Jul 17 2008
  • Posted by Andrew Price

• Smart Parking

  San Francisco is implementing a two-year, 95-million-dollar network of wireless sensor "bumps" to digitally transmit what parking spaces around the city are free all any point. This will save time, fuel, frustration, and maybe even lives—San Francisco residents have been known to stab each other to death over parking spots. Other cities, like New York, will look to SF's "bumps" for their own streets if the system works; doubtless there will be some kinks to work out, but we're on the right track here in terms of efficiency, and we hope for San Francisco's sake it will have a more predictable success rate than our previous strategy of praying to the patron saint of parking while circling the block for the 400th time.
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  • Date: Jul 14 2008
  • Posted by alexandra_m

• Switching Gears

  Everyone was revved up over Toyota's 2009 solar-paneled Prius this week, so it's nice to see General Motors, a pillar of American industry which has long been under fire for things like being a corporation, and manufacturing automobiles, isn't only one-upping the foreign competition, but frantically backpedaling to try and make a less environmentally oblivious name for themselves in a progressively more fuel efficiency-driven car market. We just mentioned how they're supplying the Democratic National Convention's biofuel vehicles. And when it comes to hybrids, apparently BMW, Chrysler and other car companies are turning to GM's technology. Yet another big statement—spanning 2,000,000 square feet—was just released: they're set to install the world's largest rooftop solar power station at their plant in Zaragoza, Spain. 19 other GM Europe facilities may follow, and they already operate two of the United States's largest solar panel stations on parts warehouses in California. A series of hydrogen stations to refuel fuel cell vehicles like their new Chevy Equinox is in the works. Now, rumor has it, we may even see the demise of the Hummer, which may someday be considered transportation's equivalent to the 8-track tape. Is it desperation? Or is it progress? Or is it progress out of desperation. Either way, it's a major force that has been bullied into doing a little better. That's somewhat encouraging. Photo: Colorado's governor and a GM environment & energy exec have a super-great time refilling their E85 at an ethanol fueling station.
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  • Date: Jul 11 2008
  • Posted by alexandra_m

• Sign Here, Bike There

  While we've never said that bicycles > cars, we do believe that they should at least have space on our roads. To that end, we were excited to see a petition to add a "Bike There" option to Google's traffic-heavy Maps pages. The petition's fine print makes a why-doesn't-this-exist case, playing the safety and environment cards and reminding Google of its core mission: "organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful."
  
  After all, it can't hurt to try, right? Here's the signature page if you're tired of biking alongside inconsiderate cars—or vice-versa of course.
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  • Date: Jul 09 2008
  • Posted by Jason Jude Chan