Yummy Wakame

A World Without Humans

This is a fascinating podcast from the Scientific American podcast archive. Journalist Alan Weisman conducts a giant thought experiment — what would the world be like if humanity just vanished tomorrow? What would be left? How would nature respond? And what would happen to all our stuff? Would some of the things we leave behind be indelible?

You might also be interested in the book he wrote on the subject which got rave reviews: The World Without Us

Watch it on YouTube

Did You Know?

• Over eight million tons of trees are consumed each year in the production of paper catalogs.
• There are other significant environmental impacts from the catalog cycle. The production and disposal of direct mail alone consumes more energy than three million cars.

Stop receiving that mountain of unwanted catalogues, and do your bit for the environment!
This fantastic free service will even allow you to unsubscribe previous tenants’ subscriptions.

via Just for the Record

If you want an affordable wireless speaker solution for your home and like me you have a lot of restricted audio formats that won’t play in iTunes (or if iTunes just bugs the nipples off you) there is great news!
Remote Speakers Output Plug-In will send streams to your Airport Express speakers through Winamp! No iTunes installation required. It will even allow you to control the volume through Winamp and works with the remote control.

I just purchased it today for next to nothing through PayPal and it works beautifully! Eric, the creator, was very helpful and responded quickly when I had problems getting it to work at first. You can test it out for 2 weeks for free too.
Here’s the Winamp Plugin page with reviews.

AN Hosting’s Halloween Hosting offer has just been TRIPLED! You have only 2 days left to get it. The new package details include:

• 750 Gigs of Disk Space (originally 250 gigs, then 500 gigs, now TRIPLE)
• 7,500 Gigs of Bandwidth (originally 2,500 gigs, then 5,000 gigs, now TRIPLE)
• 60 Domains on 1 Account (originally 20 domains, then 40 domains, now 60 domains!!!)
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View the full package details

Found this little gem on enschedeaanzee -

Watch it on YouTube

I miss having a little cat sproinging on my face and kneading my chest first thing in the morning… *sigh*

Thanks Nathan!

The Young Knives looking hot in their wetsuits.

Weekends & Bleakdays

Watch it on YouTube

She’s Attracted To

Not working? Watch on YouTube

More Videos & Music:
The Young Knives MySpace
TheYoungKnives.com

Apparently while I was too busy to watch the news, the North American Union was formed. Bush signed the agreement without the approval of Congress or our consent. Don’t feel bad if you havent heard about it, apparently hardly anyone knows about it yet.

Watch it on YouTube

“We shall have World Government whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.”
~ Paul Warburg, Council on Foreign Relations
Architect of the Federal Reserve System

Firefox doesn’t love me anymore. I’m so distraught and dissappointed that Firefox is still having major issues and bugs since their ‘upgrade’ to Version 2. Ive been using Internet Exploder since a week after Firefox upgraded itself which is a degrading experience, but at least its a means to an end while I work. I miss the sweet plugins that I became so dependent on, like the developer tools and the wonderful tab options that once wooed me.

Is anyone else experiencing these problems?

• Frequent spontaneous browser crashes and freezes – every 5 or 10 minutes
• Each time the browser opens it never remembers the last session or my homepage and always opens a helpful “You’ve upgraded to the latest version of Firefox!” page just to irritate me further. Ive tried uninstalling Tab Mix Plus plugin to no avail.
• Any window that pops up usually shows a saved page from the previous session instead of the page you want.
• Using the Google Toolbar causes more frequent crashes

I was once such a devoted Firefox disciple, but my faith is being severely tested. I am beginning to believe there is no browser God.

Eventually you’re going to need a contract to protect your income. But where do you begin? What should it include?

Freelance Switch is giving one away – a great place to start.

The Young Knives – Kids in America

More to come!

Yummy Wakame is happily hosted by AN Hosting along with many of my clients sites. Their Mega Plan is so affordable and offers by default all the crucial addons that other hosts usually offer at a hefty price per addon.
See the package details.

Well AN Hosting’s Mega Plan has been slashed down to $5.95 a month for double the disk space, double the bandwidth and double the domains! There is no setup fee. Use the coupon BOO to get ONE MONTH OFF the already RIDICULOUSLY good Mega Plan this October.

Only 8 days left!
(Offer expires Midnight Halloween)

www.royaljozini.com
Prize: Site 173 at Royal Jozini Big 6 is 4000m² in size and nestled in the bushveld between the water of Lake Jozini and the majestic Lebombo Mountains in Swaziland.

Mozy Online Backup is now also available for Macs!

• 2GB Home Storage – FREE
• Unlimited Home Storage – $4.95
• Unlimited Business Storage – $3.95 + 50c/GB per month

Open/locked file support: Mozy will back up your documents whether they’re open or closed.
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Automatic: Schedule the times to back up and MozyHome does the rest.
New and changed file detection: MozyHome finds and saves the smallest changes.
Backs up Outlook files: Disaster-proof email protection.
Block-level incremental backup: After the initial backup, MozyHome only backs up files that have been added or changed, making subsequent backups lightning fast.

Watch it on YouTube

About GUAN-YIN, the deity from Chinese Mythology

CNN.com: On a whim, two parents got in on a bloodstream study to find out what kinds of chemicals are in their children’s blood. It turned out that in just 18 months, their toddler had amassed more man-made gunk in his body than they’d gotten in decades. It all came from the environment in which he lives, from mattresses, fabrics, and plastic spoons and plates.

Springboks rule the world!

South Africa are the World Rugby champions, after the Boks beat England 15-6 in a tense and attritional final in Paris Today.

Throughout the length and breadth of South Africa shouts resounded that were part joy and part relief because, heavens, it was close. Car horns blared, toasts were drunk, cheering and laughter broke out, revelry was on the cards – it was the biggest national party since 26 June 1995.
~ iafrica.com

According to popular belief, buying a home is a sound investment to take you into retirement, and renting is considered a waste of your hard-earned money. Having grown up and lived now in three countries where the landlord is king this belief has always been ingrained in my brain. In countries like the UK it is quite common and considered very sensible to not only own a home at home but abroad too and to keep expanding your property portfolio. I have heard that in many countries, like Germany and the Netherlands, renting for life is far more common and there is little to no societal pressure to be a homeowner.

Millionaire Mommy Next Door has an interesting argument for renting we don’t often hear:

I calculated the total cost of living in our [purchased] home. Due to our sweat equity, our mortgage balance was very low … but once I added property taxes, insurance, maintenance and, especially, lost opportunity costs (home equity not available to earn money), it became very clear that our shelter “need” was costing us too much in life energy.

• Rent, Grow Rich, Be Free
• I Get Richer as a Renter

Her arguments are based on solid calculations and they are guaranteed to astound you. She discovered that your home purchase doesnt even break even after 30 years!

via Lifehacker

Wall Street Journal,
Your Home Isn’t the Nest Egg That You May Think It Is:

“Economic studies have demonstrated over and over that houses (1) cost more than most people make when they sell and (2) rarely match the long-term returns of stocks or other investments.”

“The costs of owning a home — buying it with a long-term mortgage and then paying taxes on it, insuring it, repairing it, renovating it — sap most of what most homeowners think they make in price appreciation.”

Weepies – Slow Pony Home

WoZoCos is just one of many projects planned and constructed by the MVRDV. Based in Rotterdam, the MVRDV has been creating unusual and beautiful architecture since 1996.

On the edge of Amsterdam an otherwise ordinary apartment slab is expanded by radically cantilevering apartments over the sidewalk on one side of the building. On the other side, colourful translucent balconies punctuate the facade.

Check out the extraordinary photos

If you’re a whore for the latest Gucci handbag and can never have enough accessories, even if it means your credit cards are rivalling your student loan, then Handbag Hire HQ could be your last chance before bankrupcy. Starting at £5 a week you could be sporting a bag straight off the catwalk.

There is something about the whole concept of having to have the latest handbag at any cost that’s so ridiculous to me, but since this company is offering an affordable solution and its such a unique and novel business idea I couldn’t resist blogging it.

WIRED: What Became of the LOGO Programming Language?
This article gave me a happy shiver of reminiscence. The game is apparently still being used in schools to teach kids programming skills. But we don’t have to go back to school – we can
play with the turtle in our browsers right now!

I can’t help but envy Jay Shafer. For the past 10 years he has been living in a tiny wooden house the size I’ve always wanted to live in, without any clutter and he sleeps in a divine mezzanine bed. A portable home that can be relocated anywhere he wants to live – on a river or even up in a tree. (If he was living up in a tree that would be officially unfair). Jay is a designer specializing in sustainable architecture and urban planning. You can find out more about him here.

Here are some gorgeous interior photos of his home.

“I call the first of my little hand built houses Tumbleweed. My decision to inhabit just 100 square feet arose from some concerns I had about the impact a larger house would have on the environment, and because I do not want to maintain a lot of unused or unusable space. My houses have met all of my domestic needs without demanding much in return. The simple, slower lifestyle my homes have afforded is a luxury for which I am continually grateful.”

The Tumbleweed Tiny House Company will prompt you to “Think Different” about the future of housing.

Here are all the tiny houses he’s designed and built. He has even made the plans available! Check out the ultra modern Z.GLASS HOUSE. Amazing designs!!!

You’re still reading? The best video of all is waiting for you!
Jay gives us a personal tour of his house. Imagine having a simple enough life that afforded you the luxury of living this way!