Gardening in Suburbia: Hot New Trend | Watch out, it’s the new hot trend! Turn your lawn into a garden! This is awesome to see and fits in nicely with the article from last week’s remaindered links about the town in Hampshire doing something similar.

The End of Flight as We Know It | An op-ed from the great Bacon’s Rebellion e-magazine this week about the end of cheap air travel and looking ahead at an era when international travel at the drop of the hat will only be for those “at the top of the economic pyramid”. “There is no way to have “low cost, safe, convenient flights.” No amount of traditional subsidy or oversight can mask realty. The only way that there can be safe, on-time air travel is for every ticket to cost far more than it has in the past.” All too true.

Costco Food Rationing | In certain Costco’s they are limiting the amount of certain items that people can buy due to international shortages (or perceived shortages) in things such as rice, oil and flour. Toss this into the debunk file for “it could never happen here”. Also see Riots, Instability Spread as Food Prices Skyrocket and Time Magazine’s No Grain, Big Pain article. And finally: The Wall Street Journal Suggests Americans Stockpile Food

A Message to Pennsylvanians from Bill Clinton | Bill Clinton’s speech for John Kerry in October 2004.

Now one of Clinton’s laws of politics is this: If one candidate is trying to scare you and the other one is trying to get you to think, if one candidate is appealing to your fears and the other one is appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope. That’s the best.

Oops. Bill, I guess Hillary didn’t hear that speech. Nor did anyone in Pennsylvania seem to remember it this past Tuesday. Pity.

Urban Planners vs. City Residents | Even the best laid plans are laid to waste by people who simply do not want to leave the place they live. Youngstown, Ohio’s city planners would love to shut down and raze vacant and run down areas, but the few remaining residents don’t agree.

After many years of writing, recording, mixing, remixing, trashing, rewriting, re-remixing and finally mastering, the first full length record from my electronica project, Boboroshi and Kynz, is available via iTunes (US, Aus/NZ, UK/EU, Japan and Canada), as well as Rhapsody, Napster, eMusic, GroupieTunes, Amazon MP3 and Lala.

The track listing is:

• The Mo(u)rning Song
• As Good As You
• Dire Necessity
• 5am
• The Vigilance
• Arpelago
• Abbreviation
• Highline
• Hope
• Sunset

The record is currently only available for digital download. And now, Kynz and I can return to figuring out what we’re going to do for our next record, which hopefully will take less than the seven years this one did.

We’ve released the music video for the Honor By August single Into the Light, Directed by our good friend Timothy Devine

Check it out!!

Texas Oil Billionaire Bets on Wind | It’s nice to see private industry going after alternative energy. Mesa Power, owned by Texas oil man T. Boon Pickens, has put forth a plan to spend $10 Billion to build the largest wind farm on the planet. And it’s not from his “let’s save the environment” reasoning. He sees the profit in going green.

An Entire Village in UK Grows its Own Food | The village of Martin, nestled into the Hampshire countryside, is pretty nondescript. But the village has rolled back the clock and now over 2/3rds of residents participate in a program to grown their own food. The nearest supermarket is only six miles away, but most people are buying their food from the community allotment, which sells 45 different vegetables and over 100 chickens a week.

Nuclear Attack on DC: A Hypothetical Disaster | The Washington Times (which has typically been a very right-wing leaning paper) has an interesting “what-if” about a 10-kiloton detonation at street level near the White House. Some of the experts interviewed, such as Cham Dallas of the University of Georgia, claim that it’s a likely occurrence in the next 20 years. The bigger concern? The Metro area is in no way, shape, or form prepared to respond to something of this nature.

Coptic Priest Fights Fire with Fire | A Coptic (Christian) priest in Egypt has been named Islam’s Public Enemy #1 by an Arabic Newspaper. He has forged a discussion of the Koran and some of the more archaic laws present in the Hadith. He preaches in Arabic and asks deep questions and responds with a point by point argument that would win some of the toughest debates. The result? A frustrated ulema (a body of prominent Muslim theologians) and a large number of converts to Christianity.

Vitamins May Increase Mortality | Looks like highly processed vitamins aren’t that good for you after all. Michael Pollan’s points from The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food ring more and more true every day.

Nalgene to Phase Out Hard-Plastic Bottles | Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical present in certain hard-plastic Nalgene bottles, is being phased out. The chemical has been linked to neurological and behavioral problems as well as obesity, cancer and diabetes.

For those of you who do not follow large sweeping news stories, DC v. Heller is a Supreme Court case currently being heard that challenges that the District of Columbia’s firearms ban is in violation of the Second Amendment of the Constitution in the Bill of Rights. There’s been a lot of argument on both sides of this case, but reading Jack Landers’ Rule .303 Blog, he put for a good point last month:

DC’s gun ban is different from these other issues. This isn’t a grey area. This isn’t a question of regulations intended to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. The question is whether a local government can completely ban a right which is explicitly granted to the people in the Constitution.

Some would attempt to argue that when the founders wrote ‘the people,’ they were really referring to ‘the government.’ The idea is that the 2nd Amendment was only intended to establish that the government is allowed to have some kind of collective defense. However, this is a pretty scary type of logic if you apply it consistently. If we’ve decided that rights granted to ‘people’ in the Bill of Rights were actually granted to governments rather than to the people as individuals, then you can kiss your freedom goodbye.

‘The right of the people peaceably to assemble’? Nah, that just means that the government can hold meetings. They can arrest you for standing in a group and waving signs around.

How about the 4th Amendment?

‘The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.’

Huh. I guess that was just establishing that the government cannot be audited? Yeah, that’s it. The founders just wanted to prevent any of that pesky transparency in government.

It’s all pretty stupid, isn’t it? But this is where you end up going if you claim that the words ‘the people’ actually refer to the government rather than, you know, the actual people.

That is one of the best arguments I have heard to the definition of how the Bill of Rights was intended. If it is in fact a governmental right, then the entire premise of the Bill of Rights (which was based on the Virginia Bill of Rights ) is out the window.

Considering the brisk assault on personal liberty since 9-11, it’s not surprising that the interpretation of people to mean “state-regulated militia” has been put forth. It’s an argument of commas and intent. Is “a well regulated militia” a modifier or a separate statement?

Regardless of the outcome, I expect the justices to rule so narrowly as to only effect the legality or illegality of the DC regulation and avoid widespread chaos that would ensue from what many would see as an affront on their God-given rights.

Gun regulation doesn’t work. If someone wants to get a firearm, they will. Black markets have always existed for contraband. And then you have a populace scared and unable to defend themselves. Look at history to be your guide: one of the first things revoked in totalitarian regimes is the right to bear arms.

Last spring, after reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, which came recommended by way of a blog post by Waldo Jaquith, I decided to join a community supported agriculture program here in Northern Virginia run by the Hauter family at Bull Run Farm. Learning to cook with the seasons and trying a variety of new vegetables I’d not had before was quite a rewarding experience.

I had a basil plant that grew to be quite large (3’ tall) and some sage but nothing of a real garden. I decided that this year, it needed to be done up a bit more properly. But lacking more than the 5’x8’ concrete balcony floating 80’ off the ground, I am limited as to how extensive I can make it. But I’m going ot give it a good run for the summer and see how it progresses. I plan to keep extensive track of it via the blog, so apologies to those expecting some wonderful insight to usability or design on a regular basis. For the next few months, the order of the day is… dirt.

The basics were laid last week: an onion that had taken to sprouting on my counter was put into a pot, the Aloe Vera plant transplanted to a larger container, the sage given it’s own pot proper. And today, with the arrival of a variety of heirloom sees, the mini greenhouses have been sown with arugula, basil, lavender, thyme, and carrots. Tomorrow, I’ll plant some various lettuces, radishes, and beans in their pots outside.

I plan to put in tomatoes, lettuce, white eggplant, and squash by next Monday. I have also ordered a dehyhdrator and plan to attempt to do some pressure canning as well (with much direction from Lisa King, I’m sure!)

So, does anyone know of any good self-watering drip irrigation systems that would be deployable on a balcony?

Food Riots to Worsen Without Global Action | The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation stated that “food riots in developing countries will spread unless world leaders take major steps to reduce prices for the poor.” Too bad all that grain is going to ethanol production.

Here Comes China | It was the British empire, then the American. It looks like China will be stepping up to the plate next. The power shift is beginning to make itself evident with the weakening Western economies and the surging growth in China’s economic house.

Email Sufficient to Modify Contract | Interesting business note that a series of emails can be considered signed writings used to modify an employment agreement. So, save those emails that are important, but just not in your inbox.

NYT and Wash Post Cover Preparedness | I was a little disturbed but also happy to see that the Washington Post and the New York Times both cover preparedness this week, albeit in different ways. The NYT appeared to go for the style angle of “isn’t that cute” while the Post had more of a proper view point of it all. Nothing wrong with being a Boy Scout, kids.

USA 2008: The Great Depression | The UK paper, The INdependent, puts forth some statistics about how we could be approaching a similar storm of economic hardship not seen since before World War II. They also point out use of food stamps and their increase.

Food for Thought | The Economist’s April issue takes on the food crisis and possible solutions. This article discusses the issues related to biofuels and how commodities prices jumping 300% are causing headaches for agencies like USAID and politicians alike. One of the solutions? the WFP’s proposed changes to shift away from emergency food and towards stabilizing production globally.

Find Your Dream Homestead | Tips on finding your little patch of land where you can start a farm. After 12 years in DC, this sounds absolutely amazing. Even Alaska. Anything but the typical trash filing into and out of the various chichi clubs.

Rick Rolled | Never giving you up, never letting you down… sounds like a dream guy, right? Well, the 80s hit has made a come back as a new internet meme called “Rickrolling”.

Simplicity: What we can learn about Usability | Pretty much the most succinct visual representation of why every client’s current app simply needs to be moved to the trash heap before beginning a redesign.

Shawn Baldwin Photography | A lot of amazing photography straight out of the Iraq conflict. Browse around the site, this guy has captured some powerful images.

April Foolery | A cool program that lets you change the message on an HP printer. Hours of fun will ensure. Be sure to setup secret camera.

The Royal Mint held a competition to replace the design of the British coins in circulation since the 1970s. The final designs are simply, beautiful. They are based upon the shield of the Royal Arms, as if each coin was a vignette onto a part of the shield, with the one pound pice having the entire Shield on it’s side. Hoefler and Frere-Jones have a nice comparison between this new coinage and the Department of the Treasury’s new Five dollar bill, complete with a purple “5” in Helvetica.

Maybe the US Federal Government should hold a design competition. (via Ministry of Type)

Way overdue, but I finally have posted my SXSW photos to flickr.

Amy and I gave our panel on the first day of SXSW interactive and it was a blast. It was nice to have it out of the way so we could chill and enjoy the rest of the week. Despite a one day sickness that I warded off (and developed into South By Scurvy upon my return to DC) I was out and about at the conference center and Sixth Street Environs.

Here’s the breakdown of Photos:

SXSW Interactive

SXSW Music

Hotel Café Tour @ Parish

Sara Bareilles @ Parish

Honor by August (my band) at the 7th & Trinity Guitar Hero Stage (photos by our manager Trish on my camera)

and finally, but not least of all, Paramore at La Zona Rosa

The talk that Amy Hoy and I gave at SXSW this year is now online at behyphenated.com. Check it out!

Our talk pitch: Zen masters taught it. Isaac Newton knew it. Scott Adams writes about it. Now you can know it, too. We’re talking, of course, about the manifold benefits of being a n00b (at something). And, of course, about all the good stuff that happens post-n00bishness: the excellent side effects of being good at multiple things, even if they’re not related – heck, especially if they’re not related. So many of humanity’s important discoveries, innovations and beautiful leaps of logic have been made by people whose brains were leveled up by the cross-fertilization of multiple interests and disciplines. Nano-thin specialization is out, a broad understanding of life, the universe, and everything is in. It’s time to synergize, baby. So, reach outside your comfort zone, be a beginner again, and you’ll be smarter, sexier, better at your job… even more valuable. With the wisdom of the ages (and a little bit from modern pundits), we’ll talk about how, why, when, and where you can go about it. You won’t regret it.

Fearing Crime, Japanese Wear the Hiding Place | Seriously. A walking Coke machine? This either speaks lowly of the Japanese populous that they believe such a trick will work or even lower of the Japanese criminal mind that they would fall for such a trick.

High Prices Spark Fresh Gold Rush in California | Gold has gone from $300 to $1000 an ounce in about 7 years, and this in turn has create a second California gold rush of sorts. Maybe I should pay a visit to my family in the El Dorado Hills with a pick-axe and pan and start digging for Gold.

A Pre-fab Off Grid House | There’s been a lot of interesting work in the last few years in the pre-fab industry. Some very nice structures indeed have been created. This is a design for an off the grid house to be deployed in remote and hostile locations with all sorts of off-the-grid goodies. (via .sara)

New Wheat Crisis Plagues World Food Supply | Ug99 has been causing all sorts of Wheat failures starting in Africa and moving slowly East into Iran and Asia. Wheat prices were already skyrocketing, and this will only add to the demand. Expect food prices to continue to rise.

PA Judge Sentences Three to Learn English | Three Spanish-speaking men who appeared in a Pennsylvania court were ordered to learn English, earn a GED and get full-time jobs or their parole would be revoked and they would be placed in prison. Now that is creative sentencing.

The $53 Trillion Asteroid | Again, I dislike this guy (Glenn Beck) on television, but he’s got another good article about the Social Security and Medicare promises that cannot ever be repaid due to pure basic economics.

New Government Surveillance Tools | A vehicle traveling at 70 miles per hour past a federal observer with a new tool can be scanned for nuclear material. What else do they have?

I sent Jim Bacon an email last night asking about why the Virginia Railway Express had not utilized the westbound rail corridor heading out towards Charlottesville (and through a lot of the boom area in Fairfax and Loudoun counties) as a new line. For those of you who follow the Virginia transportation mess, and care about sustainable development, you really should check out Jim’s blog Bacon’s Rebellion Blog and his bi-weekly e-zine of Bacon’s Rebellion.

Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Jim saying that he had checked out Rotoscope (myspace) (via the link in my email signature) and liked it enough to put up a post on the Bacon’s Rebellion Blog. Looking at the comments, Waldo might have felt that he had stepped into the twilight zone when he opened up his RSS feed this morning.

I think I might need to gather my thoughts and write an article about the VRE…

JPMorgan aquires Bear | Considering Bear Stearns is one of my clients, this was a bit of a “uh oh” moment. We’ll see what happens, but if Bear was vulnerable, who else is?

Gulf Banks urged to cut ties to US Dollar | If they drop the dollar, what happens to everyone who’s pegged against the dollar?

Marblized Ice formations in Antactica | Some very cool imagery of odd ice formations that look like marble.

Brad and Angelina Refused Entry to REM Concert | Stubbs refused to let the stars and their entourage into REM’s show at SXSW. I wish I had stood by the door to see that go down. It was a good show and my old client, Jonathan Rice, opened up.

SXSW Limits the Party | SXSW is trying to limit the parties offered at the festival, especially those not sanctioned by the festival itself. In conjunction with the Austin Fire Chief, they’ve been on the prowl to shut down house parties etc that are off the farm.

Boulder to be First Smart Grid City | Xcel Energy will be putting in over $100 million in upgrades to allow customers to see real-time data reflecting energy usage and potentially using hybrid cars as generators during power outages.

I’m on my way back from SXSW in Austin, somewhere between New Orleans and Atlanta on day 2 of our 4 day drive back. A lot of other blogging and links to post, but I couldn’t wait on this.

This morning Sen. Barack Obama gave a speech in Philadelphia about race and the concerns surrounding his former pastor’s sermons that were considered racist. I read the transcript during brunch in the French Quarter this morning and it gave me chills. The speech is absolutely phenomenal and eloquent. I can’t imagine many other politicians giving a speech like this, even if one was written for them. Watch the video and/or read the transcript.

Follow up: it appears as the overall consesnus is that Obama saved his campaign with the speech

The Michigan Debacle

In other election commentary, the Michigan revote issue is starting to build up steam, with the Clinton campaign stumping that Sen. Barack Obama is the hold up. They are also saying that if they do hold a re-election, anyone who voted in the GOP primary would be barred from voting. While I understand the logic in this as a national party rule, in Michigan it causes concern. Since the Democratic Primary was seen as a fluke due to the violation of the DNC rules (by moving the primary forward for purely promotional gains by the State), many candidates, including Sen. Obama, removed themselves from the ballot in order to not upset traditional primary states such as New Hampshire and Iowa. [1] Therefore, many independents and Obama supporters might have voted in the GOP primary, since the Democratic one was dead on arrival.

Michigan Democractic Chairman Mark Brewer, in a completely idiotic statement regarding why people who had voted, said

I regret that that might be the case, but it’s a national party rule and we have no choice but to follow it.

Huh, so, Mark, when it behooves your ego and your grand plan to increase media attention and therefore potential tax revenue in Michigan, the National party rules are more of a suggestion as opposed to the law. We get it. You’re just an ass.

If you’re going to have a revote, that’s fine. But since you’ve disenfranchised half the voting populous of your state by blatantly ignoring the rules, maybe you can re-enfranchise them by bending a little bit.

¹ Talking Points Memo

Photo of Sen. Obama by Justin Hankins. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

When Music takes flight over and over again | I’m starting to feel like this guy with the constant road tripping. Now only if we could fly to shows and have catering. (article sent by Lisa King)

The Next shoe to drop in housing | Traditional mortgages are starting to feel the pinch in the credit crisis. The fed is cutting rates, but the rates are going up across the board.

Yahoo Embraces the Semantic Web | Yahoo is making the big jump to get all of its data into semantic formats. This makes interpolating and dissecting the data on the web far easier when it is used properly. The only downside is that this takes time to mark up.

Live from DC’s Bloghouse | When everyone blogs, what happens? It’s like Real World without the contrived crap and overly done up sex-crazed people.

Yongfook | This is a very cool site that implements the “lifestream” concept. I’ve been thinking about this as a way to tie together all the different things I have online, but haven’t really had the time or energy to figure it out.

Gary Vaynerchuk is one of our clients and a brilliant promoter and people person. While down here at SXSW this weekend, he got fed up with the crap lines outside the overcrowded official parties and sent out a ping:

"Huge free wine event at mariott lobby …. Sorry 16 bit"

...and the masses showed up mighty quick As the article says, it wasn’t on the event listings, it wasn’t an official party, and it got shut down by the hotel for being too loud. And it was one of the most enjoyable parties of the week.

Now that, my friends, is how rockstars do it.

Monster cable vs. coat hangers | There’s an ongoing argument in audiophile groups that expensive cables really do make things sound better. This experiment proves that most people couldn’t tell the difference. So stop spending $40 for a 3’ RCA cable people.

Observations on Superdelegates fight | There seems to be a militant undercurrent picking up steam in regards to the Democratic National Convention this year. There are a number of young individuals who feel that if Hillary wins the nomination, by legal or illegal means (in reality or perception) that it will result in riots that make the late 60s look tame. It will be interesting to see how the super delegates shake out.

Companies Piling Up Cash | While most consumers have little or no savings, most companies have enough cash on hand to pay all their current liabilities. Corporate savings have soared while spending has been cut. So at least the companies are being smart going into this whole mess.

States and Cities Rebelling Against Bond Ratings | The complex system of insurances and credit ratings (what does AAA really mean?) has frustrated a large number of cities and states who say they can no longer deal with business as usual if they are to continue to operate effectively.

Home Appraisal Standards Stiffened | Not that you’ll be able to get a home equity line of credit anytime soon, but consider that the process of appraising homes will be moved into a group that is not independent of the loan granting authority starting in 2009.

Avenue A Razorfish 2008 Digital Outlook Report | Guy Kawasaki (former Apple Chief Evangelist, author and VC guy) writes a nice synopsis of Avenue A/Razorfish’s 2008 report to their clients about the digital space. A good read for those working in the area.

iBand | Not sure how well this would work in anything larger than a small club, but it’s a cool idea. Can you imagine four guys standing around a table with their iPhones on it in Giants Stadium? I mean, in real life.

Glenn Beck: Don’t follow the herd on the economy | I really don’t like Glenn Beck. He just seems like another right-wing commentator yelling out how the liberals are killing America. But this article has some good points and an interesting look at the levels of potential decline that may occur in the current economic crisis.

People still die in a gunless utopia | John Stossel writes a great op-ed piece on how gun-control laws actually don’t significantly effect gun crime.

Home Price Plunge Accelerates | That which goes up must come down, and that’s what’s happening in the massive bubble known as the housing market. This long stream of articles recently makes me glad that I got out when I did with no real loss. See also: January Foreclosures up 57% and Existing Home Sales Decline

UN Says "Eat Bugs" | For drought and plague areas, insects make a great protien supplement and are quite plentiful. Mmmm. Dinner.

New AIGA DC Site | Much more usable design than their last iteration.

Meet the World Flags | Some of the most amazing info-graphics work I’ve seen recently courtesy of a Portuguese designer.

CNN Fires Producer for Blogging | Funny that they cite non-partisanship as part of their rationale, but then have someone like Glenn Beck on every night. More proof that the Fourth Estate has basically sold its soul for the almighty dollar.

Banks Lose to Deadbeat Homeowners as Loans Sold in Bonds Vanish# | At least the legal community is forcing banks to prove that they actually own the title on these things. Too many banks are in a freak out mode now. Not encouraging anyone to not pay their mortgage, but interesting points here.

The Torture Playlist | My what fine tastes in music our soilders international prison guards have.

F&$k Style | A nice design commentary on how we, as designers, should stop following the trends and just do what we do. Focus on results, not the cool, current style