Top 50 green power purchasers in the USA and their proportion of total power used.

http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/toplists/top50.htm

Some surprises include several divisions of Pepsi (at 100% green power!), City of Chicago, Dell actually giving back to the grid overall, the State of Pennsylvania, and several banks...

A graph that makes sense... and looks great.

Denser living = less driving... makes sense, but looks great on this graph. One thing to look at is the rapid rise from townhouses to stand alone single family homes; a 50% increase in miles! Via Treehugger.com

Objectified

Got tickets for a few of the HotDocs, including Objectified, second in a planned trilogy by "Helvetica" director Gary Hustwit.

Objectified trailer:


http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2009/04/19/style/t/index.html?8ur&emc=ur#pageName=19movie

His latest, ‘‘Objectified’’, had its premiere at last month’s South by Southwest festival. This film looks at industrial design, mixing interviews with assembly-line factory shots and B-roll footage of people shopping. Sustainability, consumerism, robots — ‘‘Objectified’’ covers all the bases and catches the design world’s hotshots off guard. There’s Dieter Rams, pruning a bonsai tree in his Japanese garden; the IDEO co-founder Bill Moggridge firing up his 1955 GMC Jimmy; and Jonathan Ive, deep inside Apple’s top-secret facilities, wiping the screen of his iPhone with his T-shirt.

Bedtime inspiration/awe

Timescapes Timelapse: Learning to Fly from Tom @ Timescapes.

Looking for some artificial internet bedtime inspiration? Set to Pink Floyd's Learning to Fly.

I strongly urge you to click on the link and watch it full screen in HD; you know, if you got the time!

Time lapse videos of the earth's rotation with the stars as the allegiant(,) rock.

Profile of the day: New US Secretary of Energy

Nobel Prize winner, and US Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu

Was anyone in your family impressed when you won the Nobel Prize in Physics?

Probably, but who knows? I called my mother up when they announced the Nobel Prize, waiting until 7 in the morning. She said, “That’s nice — and when are you going to see me next?”

Is it true you don’t drive a car?

My wife does, but I no longer own a car. Let me just say that in most of my jobs, I mostly rode my bicycle.

And now?

My security detail didn’t want me to be riding my bicycle or even taking the Metro. I have a security detail that drives me.

How do you feel about adding carbon emissions to the air?

I don’t feel good about it.

I guess the president wants to keep you alive.

My wife is in favor of that as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/magazine/19wwln-q4-t.html?_r=4&ref=energy-environment



Short discussion on fuels:



Wkipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Chu

Chu: I enrolled in a two-year, introductory physics sequence that used The Feynman Lectures in Physics as the textbook. The Lectures were mesmerizing and inspirational. Feynman made physics seem so beautiful and his love of the subject is shown through each page. Learning to do the problem sets was another matter, and it was only years later that I began to appreciate what a magician he was at getting answers.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1997/chu-autobio.html

US department of Energy profile: http://www.energy.gov/organization/dr_steven_chu.htm

But Chu told senators nuclear power would be an “essential part of our energy mix.”: http://thehill.com/the-executive/sens.-hear-chus-support-for-role-of-nuclear-power-2009-03-11.html

Steven Chu: ‘Coal is My Worst Nightmare’:http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/12/11/steven-chu-coal-is-my-worst-nightmare/

"Another myth is [that] we have all the technologies we need to solve the energy challenge. It's only a matter of political will," he says. "I think political will is absolutely necessary... but we need new technologies to transform the [energy] landscape:
"http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/12/10/steven-chu-new-energy/

TFC = fun!

SO, Sunday was supposed to be all about hanging out in the park, maybe reading a bit, and having a snack or two, but, plans fell through. Then, with a phone call not 5 minutes later, an offer of extra tickets to the TFC game! It was supposed to be a cloudy, rainy affair, but it turned out great!

One thing that kinda sucked, you're allowed to bring camera's into the park, BUT, apparently zooms cannot be over 75mm! WTF?! What a weird rule... Anyway, I brought my D40 along with it's disgustingly damn fine 18-200mm zoom, and had to leave it at the door. Oh well; here are at least some shots outside BMO field. Thanks again Rebecca!