I am thankful for my grandsons, born on Thanksgiving Day 2009! Elliot and Luke were born at 24 weeks into their momma's pregnancy! They both weighed 1lb 9oz and were 11.5 inches long! They stayed in the NNICU for 101 days! They fought through many complications and grew into strong, healthy, bundles of energy! They turned two just the other day and are truly a blessing and joy!
Strange as it may seem to super urban people, certain animals, like coyotes, have high reproduction rates and can be a true menace to ranching. Even in the county where I live, which is home to Colorado Springs, there is a $30 bounty on coyotes. All you have to do is bring in both ears to the game warden, and you will be paid.
Google+ launched their API for public data today. For now it provides read-only access to public data in the form of People & Activities. Here are some links to get you started:
Do you have a green thumb but an extremely limited living space? Try building your own DIY terrarium. All you need is a clear glass or plastic container, a few of your favorite plants, and some cheap gardening supplies to start your own self-contained, self-sustained miniature garden.
Never buy pasta sauce from the supermarket again. Or salad dressing. Or pie crusts, chicken stock, hummus, bread crumbs and other common cooking staples that can be easily replicated within the comfort of your own kitchen.
While running through a bag miscellaneous leftovers from the 4th of July, I came up upon a stash of firecrackers that had eluded me every previous time I had gone through the bag. I started setting them off and grew tired of them quite quickly, so I thought of creative ways of setting them off. I decided to bury one underground with only the fuse exposed and set it off. It blew all the dirt on top away, but for some strange reason, all the smoke stayed. I quickly pulled out my camera and took...
One of the best Flash games inspired by urban gardening. One simple way of alleviating food shortage or rather minimizing your food expenses: Planting your own food. Of course this won’t literally save you from a zombie apocalypse but this could surely save you some extra bucks.
The footage you're about to watch may look CG, and while it is indeed animated, the 5,600 frames used to composite this fly by glimpse of Saturn aren't fabricated—they are real hi-res photographs taken by the Cassini orbiter. Outside In—an "IMAX in a basement"—is a DIY not-for-profit IMAX project-in-progress by filmmaker Stephen Van Vuuren.
Here's a rich man's problem for you: two NYC East Village penthouse condos and the need for one combined living space. What do you do? Simply add a helical slide! When the homeowners came up with this fun idea for combining their two condos, they contracted architecture firm TCA to design and construct two separate options to descend and ascend between the two living spaces— an Italian-made "Rintal" stair (an open spiral staircase), or the much speedier and much livelier option: a stainless s...
Okay, so WonderHowTo already has a million origami tutorials (well, I'm exaggerating... not a million. 2,410 and growing). And the process of folding an origami rabbit is pretty simple (maybe not that simple- 16 steps to be exact).
Serious Eats' latest Meet and Eat features Todd Barricklow, creator of the Taco Bike, an eco-friendly alternative to the fast growing food truck industry. The 200+ pound bike is equipped with a propane tank, three sectioned griddle, water tank, heat exchanger, wash sink, wastewater hold, ice holder and sectioned food area, trash can, napkin holder, table, money drop, chopping boards and more.
Kids! They grow up so fast! While parents have traditionally used growth charts to document their children's development, modern moms and dads have a far better tool: YouTube! The process is a simple one: take a snapshot every day—or nearly every day—and then, after a set interval, condense the photos into a time lapse. The end product? "Stop motion human growth."
Drawing is a craft that becomes art when combined with an idea. It is a skill that comes naturally to some; for others it is a slower, more painful process. But the truth is, anybody with patience and discipline can learn to draw. Learn the principles of line, perspective, proportion and structure, and practice!
Crafting Co-Ops let you and your neighbors work together to grow crops for your crafting buildings! There is a job for every recipe in the Winery, Bakery and Spa. Your reward for completing one of these co-ops is 3 bushel sets which you can use to help you craft goods in your crafting building.
Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn posts an A to Z guide on making sushi at home. Classification of sushi, the rice, the tools, and your fillings: click through.
Waves are like clouds. Perpetually calming, they possess a serene beauty that never grows old. It's no wonder humans capture the planet's daily natural wonders over and over again. Armed with a camera, they just can't resist the classic postcard shot: Sunrise. Sunset. Clouds. Mountains. Beaches. Waves.
Indian pole gymnastics? Was this born from the primal urge to show off in nothing but the brightest and shortest orange shorts by Indian wome- wait, these are men? Burn them!
Robert Xyster, submitter to Love.Earn, demonstrates the universal edibility test using vegetation of the Iraq desert as an example:
In order to prune climbing roses, you will need the following: ties and pruning sheers.
In order to prune your floribunda roses, in the spring, you will need the following: pruning shears/clippers.
Happy Birthday FarmVille!!!!! Adoptable Party Duck
Via Motionographer: "Ben West wrote, directed and did the animation for this warming mockumentary promoting the 2008 Australian Directors Guild Conference. Ben’s witty script, combined with a bit of Christopher Guest meets Chris Cunningham is a refreshing change of pace from the über epic conference promos of late.
Johannes Hjorth of Sweden posts a great guide to growing cress in a co-worker's keyboard: "My colleague Erik Fransén went away on the Society for Neuroscience conference in the USA for two weeks in the middle of November. Those of you who know Erik probably know that he enjoys playing practical jokes on his friends from time to time. This time it was Erik's turn to be on the receiving end..."
FOX News Philadelphia says: "One zoo in the eastern province of Henan took some stray dogs, and made them into the exotic animals using paint."
Artist Austin Houldsworth of the UK has come up with a device that drastically speeds up the process of fossilisation. Entitled Two Million & 1AD, Houldsworth is capable of creating a fossil in a few months (which otherwise might require thousands of years). Houldsworth is currently experimenting with objects such as a pineapple and phesant, but ultimately hopes to fossilize a human. Houldsworth proposes:
Photo: Carolyn Cope Serious Eats has some great tips for shopping at the farmers' market. Some of the best ones:
Infographics are lots of fun, so how about illustrated recipes? Recipelook currently indexes 67 recipes and growing. There's a whole range in quality- a selection of my favorite drawings below.
WonderHowTo World, Luv and Music, features the latest YouTube sensation, Lady Gaga-killer, Greyson Chance:
Ok, this is a dumb movie. It's really, really, really dumb. But it's one of my favorites precisely because it's so stupid.
GOOD, a Los Angeles-based magazine focused on doing good in the world, along with LAUSD, The USDA People’s Garden Initiative, The Environmental Media Association, The National Gardening Association, The Urban & Environmental Policy Institute, The California School Garden Network, and Mia Lehrer & Associates, is sponsoring a contest for people to help design a garden for a LAUSD school. GOOD will help build the winning garden design, and they'd like your participation, too.
The United States is plagued by a growing epidemic, Child Obesity. While children need to be educated in the home about nutrition and the power of good foods vs bad foods, it is also important that the educational institutions they attend also uphold these same goals. Please sign the Child Nutrition act and aid its mission to get healthy and safe food into schools. We believe that federally funded nutrition programs should provide all children with the healthy food they deserve. This includes...
Food & Flowers Freedom Act in Los Angeles
Here's somethin' too-good-for-words, via CAKES! CAKES! CAKES!, my WonderHowTo World (P.S. you can start your own world or join others - learn more here).
Via Daily Mail: "Growing up I have always wanted a doll made in my likeness," explained Chidi, 35-year-old mother of four.
Urban farming has gotten a bit of notice in the past few years. One of the most vocal advocates is local Tara Kolla, who runs Silver Lake Farms out of her home. Along with her and the support of passionate Los Angelenos, urban farming advocates won approval clarifying an ordinance on whether people can sell fruit and vegetables they grow in their yard.
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to evaluate texture by going on a texture hunt. You will need to do this task in a group. Begin by going around the room and finding a texture that you like. Touch all kinds of things to feel the texture. When you found your texture, bring it back to the group and evaluate it. You will compare and contrast how the object feels. The texture of the objects will vary. They can be smooth, rough, hard, soft , sharp or have any other kind of feel. This vide...
Finally... Puppies Arrive at Farmville After months of pleading and ahem.... hounding, Zynga lords have added puppies and their mature incarnates dogs to Farmville.
When John Ivers grew tired of the long lines at amusement parks, he decided to build his very own roller coaster - in his backyard. Called the Blue Flash, the roller coaster is said to have the same safety standards as official park coasters, and even has a 360 degree loop.
Having grown up with quite an addiction to movies I have always loved the Key Art Posters that sell the film. Today movies, especially indies, are often sold by their DVD cover art. Its quite talent to package a crappy movie with an awesome cover. I particularly love the older movie posters that were created way before the advent of photoshop and digital cameras. The amount of work that went into these posters is quite amazing and even though the movies might suck, the key art lives on he...
Dr. Anthony Atala landed a place in PopSci's Best of 2006 with his homegrown bladders. Now Atala returns to the spotlight at a recent TED talk, discussing his current project of "printing" organs.
