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February 28, 2009
Meta-efficiency is the analysis of efficiency at a more comprehensive level.
Metaefficient Review assesses products considering not only their energy efficiency but also the embodied energy, toxicity, affordability, and usability.
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posted by netbros at 9:01 PM PST - 4 comments
The Armadillo (with audio) by
Elizabeth Bishop +
Lantern Festival"... between
the kite sticks of the Southern Cross,
receding, dwindling, solemnly
and steadily forsaking us,
or, in the downdraft from a peak,
suddenly turning dangerous.
Last night another big one fell.
It splattered like an egg of fire
against the cliff behind the house.
The flame ran down. We saw the pair
of owls who nest there flying up
and up, their whirling black-and-white
stained bright pink underneath, until
they shrieked up out of sight.
The ancient owls' nest must have burned.
Hastily, all alone,
a glistening armadillo left the scene,
rose-flecked, head down, tail down,
and then a baby rabbit jumped out,
short-eared, to our surprise.
So soft!—a handful of intangible ash
with fixed, ignited eyes.
Too pretty, dreamlike mimicry!
O falling fire and piercing cry
and panic, and a weak mailed fist
clenched ignorant against the sky!"
posted by vronsky at 6:02 PM PST - 9 comments
Urban legend has it that the province of Saskatchewan, Canada appeared in red in some 1950's American social studies textbooks, along with other "communist" countries such as Russia, China and Cuba.
It is true that Saskatchewan's "natural governing party", the socialistic
New Democratic Party have held power in the province for
47 of the last 65 years. And it's true that the NDP's most famous leader (and
Canada's Greatest Canadian), Tommy Douglas, brought universal healthcare to the province, an achievement which paved the way for it to come to the rest of Canada.
But now, after suffering
their worst defeat in 20 years, Saskatchewan's New Democratic Party is searching for a new leader...
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posted by Jaybo at 4:13 PM PST - 20 comments
Scans_daily is was a LiveJournal community specializing in posting scans of comic books, both older and current ones. On Friday night, however, the community got
suspended, allegedly because comics author
Peter David complained that one of his books was posted to it (David denies this in the linked blog post.)
Regulars at scans_daily are
outraged that the community has been shut down, claiming that the ability for people to "try before they buy" encouraged readers to buy more comics. Other comics fans are not so kind and cite that, for better or worse, the community was knowingly violating copyright.
The community
has resurfaced and is at least discussing what changes should be made to avoid this "unpleasantness" in the future and make the community more "copyright friendly".
We've seen these issues come up with movies, games, and music; now it's comic books' turn to try to figure out what to do about the internet and digital technology.
posted by Legomancer at 1:55 PM PST - 49 comments
