I found a family of hairy stinkbugs at the arboretum today. I've never seen this kind before. I submitted it to Bugguide to confirm if it's Prionosoma podopioides.

The Komodo Dragon has been extinct on the island of Padar since the year 2000. The remaining 2500 animals now only survive in scattered pockets across Komodo, Rinca and Gili Motang islands. The StraitsTimes has a short article about these few "Vanishing Dragons". As National Park Centre supervision head Ramang Isaka told the Jakarta Post recently...

"Their droppings can no longer be found there. There is no clear reason for its extinction, but rampant poaching of deer and wild boar, its main prey, and encroaching habitat due to forest conversion and wild fires are strongly believed to be among the causes."

Padar Island was teeming with Komodo dragons in the 1980s, but bush fires sparked by poachers have gradually restricted their habitat and foraging areas and might have burned dozens of them alive, he said.

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Audio

Arthur Russell – Love is overtaking me – Audika Records
Juakali – Run Babylon – Foreign Familiar pre-release mp3
Abassi Allstars – Dub answer – Deep Root
Eating Betty – New new dub – ACEtone Studios
Dead J – Cold light – Modern Sky
Lena & the Free Roots Orchestra – Cheval vapeur – Plush
Marmur – Blackbird – pre-release mp3
Christina Carter – Original darkness – Kranky
Rodriquez – Sugar man – Light in the Attic lita
Al Green – You ought to be with me - Victor Entertainment
The Brothers Unconnected – Space Dragon Ogon – Abduction
Paavoharju – Sumuvirsi – Fonal Records
Kashiwa Daisuke – Stella – Midi Creative / Noble
Goldblade featuring Polystyrene - City of Christmas Ghosts -
The Wedding Present - Holly Jolly Hoolywood - Vibrant Records
The Peggy Lee Band - All I Really Want to - Drip Audio
calvin Party - 8 Days - Eli Records
Awesome Wells - I think I Just Heard teh Hens Applauding in the Hen-house - Red Deer Club
Abe Vigoda - Live-Long - Bella Union
Hot Drop - Tell Me Dub - A QuietBump
Joker + Rustie - Play Doe - Kapsize
Madtone - WP - Blossoms Kitchen
Pascal Comleade - Contre le Style - Because
Seeland - Call the Incrediable -lOAF
Francesco Giannico / Stefano Spataro - 4 Sonatas for electroacoustic thoughts - HysM

played washers this weekend, A great backyard game for all types of folks. For the rules and how to play check out this Washers

From SFGate.com, here's a picture of Lisimba, the baby rhino at Budapest Zoo who was born from the frozen sperm of Colchester Zoo's Simba. The picture shows keeper Peter Czifra (or is it Tony Slattery?) stroking the 1-month-old southern white rhino.

what do you see.....

Tonight on your TV screen:
'The Creeping Flesh'
(fictitious title :-))

illustration for a bizar Twilight Zone-like shortstory of Danny Van Britsom entitled 'The Next' for the Belgian male-magazine Ché

... Dokido children's magazine.


I made this illustration in the middle of summer. Now it's wintertime, time to publish it for the little kids. Have a closer look on Flickr.

A globally warm X-Mas and New Year greeting from Sevensheaven.nl and Artylicious.com. A bit on the early side, I know. :)

Hi Clogworkers: my very first post to this famous blog!
My contribution for the expo 'Covered Up' (painted LP-covers) in Rotterdam by Shop Around.
info: http://shop-around.nl/

It feels good to be a Clogworker :-)
Thanks to Metin!

Tonight I want to talk about food, so if it isn't a subject near and dear to your heart, I suggest finding something else to read.

Regular visitors to Another Chance To See may recall my recent book giveaway of George Schaller's "The Year of the Gorilla", as won by Harold. Now, this audio podcast and transcript, available at VOANews has a potted history of Mr Schaller's life and how he helped to create the modern wildlife conservation movement.

He has spent his life studying wild animals in more than twenty-five countries. Those animals have included mountain gorillas, snow leopards, alligators and caribou.

This year, Mister Schaller received the Indianapolis Prize -- the world's top award for animal protection and conservation. The prize is worth one hundred thousand dollars.

As another year comes shuddering to an end - i am beside myself. I am getting old , getting grey eyebrows and getting panicky. I have a kid starting school next year. I remember starting school myself back in 1979. Jesus. It is times like this I realise I am far to immature and selfish to be in charge of other people's lives. I am also not a rules girl, and enjoy taking the easy option in all facets of life ( ie. having a cleaner, having cesareans after 2 unplanned pregnancies, enjoying the spoils from the good people of Domino's home delivery) and from what i can tell, going to kindergarten in 2009 is a myriad of rules and regulations.

Back in 1979, if you were relatively nit free and remembered to put your undies on in the morning, you were considered gifted.

The pack that was given to us on the Information Night contained the following (not all of it, some was chucked out in the great car spring-clean of October)

Canteen Info - A cheery note from the manager complete with 6 bullet points on how an order is to be placed. The menu is also there, and none of the food looks very fun. It is a bit fancy though - if I could work out the complicated ordering system, I may avail myself to regular lunches there. Smoked salmon, avocado and cream cheese Turkish toast for $3.50?? You could not buy the ingredients for that. I will pass on the carrot crudites and fruit sticks though.

School Uniform Info - Including exactly how many pairs of socks you will need. We never had a fleece lined rain jacket, skort or sleeveless vests options. We did not have to wear a hat!

A map of the playground. - An intricate affair complete with zones, nooks and quiet corners. I also notice a lack of teacher's smoking conveniences that were always a part of a well thought out school ground.

Preparing your Child for School - A very detailed booklet to help you guide your kid not to be an asshole. Favourite points include:

• Say own name
• Be curious about the world
• Answer and ask simple questions

George Bush was able to do these things - all of them! He is still an asshole.

Info Sheet - Pink in colour with IMPORTANT written across the top. A questionnaire for parents to fill in on what your kids can already do. Was due in last September. Language other than English??? Yes, screaming tantrum.

Kindergarten Stationary Order form - my favourite here is the large box of tissues and large tub of wet wipes you need. Jesus. This is a school, not a brothel.

Kindergarten Commencement Procedures - just the title gives me an ulcer. 4 pages. too much to even share with you.

A Parent Information Booklet - roughly the size of the Yellow Pages. You can opt for your child to study Ba'Hai during Religious Instruction - Tick. You may only park for 5 minutes in the kiss and drop zone. Police may be called if you forget to pickup your kid. Plus forty three thousand other interesting points.

Bullying and How to Fight It - a poorly titled flyer (we all know you never try and fight the bully) which attempts to stamp out the time honoured tradition.

A parents guide to self-medicating with alcohol, - a handy leaflet to assist you in working out all the crap that goes along with sending a kid to a public school.

So there you have it. The institution I like to call FREE DAY CARE is not all rosy. It just seems that life just keeps heaping responsibilities onto you until you finally crack, or at least sign up to do canteen duty. Now that is something I can put my hand on my heart and swear I will never do.

I will however be VERY involved in forgetting homework, getting sports days mixed up and sending my kid to school even if he has the chicken pox. Now that is dedication.

It was my 31st Birthday on Sunday. I dread my birthday, now that I'm old enough to realise that with every passing year the gap between my childhood expectations about what I ought to have achieved by a certain age, and the reality of my existence, grows ever wider. I have formal 'achievements' under my belt, to be sure, but do they actually mean anything? I'm qualified up to my eyeballs, and

Has a new era truly begun? The clarity of direction and concrete details being issued by President-Elect Obama would certainly indicate it.

In a video address, Obama committed to putting the US back at the climate change negotiating table and to begin playing the role as leader that they always should have. He's promising a federal cap and trade system with targets to bring US emissions down to 1990 levels by 2020 and to reduce them a further 80% after that.

"Few challenges facing America, and the world, are more urgent than combating climate change. The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear. Climate change and our dependence on foreign oil, if left unaddressed, will continue to weaken our economy and threaten our national security."

In the lead up to the announcement, 350.org created a global petition to urge Obama to join other countries and bring atmospheric CO2 down to 350 ppm - the level generally agreed to be sustainable and safe by world experts. Powered by Biro Creative - a talented shop here in Vancouver who also helped in our recent landslide win for new mayor Gregor Robertson - the petition drive uses an interactive "Get on the Globe" world map that asks supporters to sign on, send the new President a letter, and upload their own supporter videos and pictures to promote action on climate change. The effort led to nearly 50,000 sign ups.

Add your name to the Globe, and see Obama's announcement below.

Today is the day......

Audio

Lee 'Scratch' Perry & AMS – Jungle relick version x – On U cdr
Peverlist – Clunk click every trip – Punch Drunk
Various Production – Hater (Zomby remix) – Various Production
Pinch – Midnight oil – Tectonic
Mikey Murka – Downpressor man – Maffi
Disrupt – Downpressor version – Maffi
Frankie Paul – Call the brigade – Soul Jazz Records
Supercat – Trash & ready – Soul Jazz Records
Martin Rev – Whisper – Mau Mau
Sulumi – Melts in your mouth – Modern Sky
Martin Rev – Places I go – File Thirteen Records
Sideshow – Bottletop dub – Aus Music
Gang Gang Dance - Bebey - Warp
Alan Braxe Ft. Killa Kella & Fallon - Nightwatcher (Show Me) (Instrumental) Eye Industries / Double S & True Tiger From Day True Tiger/Always
K-The-I??? - Finger Painting (Thavius Beck Remix) - Big Dada
Johhny Osbourne - Hill & Gully - Moodies Records
Paula Darwish - Mavilim - Purple Sheep
Gary Cail & On-U Sound System - Two Thieves and a Liar - On-U Sound
Issa Bagayogo - Filaw - Six Degrees
Mockery - Jambouree - Sonic360
Amadou & Mariam - Sabaili - Because
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Everything with you - Fortuna Pop
The Ugly Suit - Anthem of the Artic Birds
Delano Smith - Something for myself - Sunrise EP - Third Ear

On November 15th, our Vancouver civic election came to a close with a landslide win for Gregor Robertson and the Vision Vancouver party. Gregor won the mayor’s seat by a 14 point margin, while the party sent 15 of 16 candidates to City Council, School Board and Park Board. The NPA, the traditional ruling party of Vancouver politics, was handed a devastating defeat, electing only a single candidate elected to council.

Like the presidential election, the theme of our campaign was change. However, the change we are seeing recently goes well beyond a simple swing in political leanings from left vs right or from one candidate to the next. The new change represents the leading edge of a new emergent consciousness. It is not coincidental that Barack Obama’s personage, and transparent, participative campaign emerged hand in hand with a massive global economic downturn, a sharpening environmental crisis, and wars of scarcity that have not been experienced in our generation. The traditional systems of supply side economics, oil based economies, closed door politics, and a singular focus on bottom line deliverables are the cause of the frightening and emerging challenges we’re now facing, and it will take nothing less than a complete remaking of our economy, media, culture, and politics to meet those challenges.

As American philosopher Ken Wilber says, new modes of consciousness arise, and are supported by, new economic and informational systems. You can’t support an industrial economy with papyrus scrolls. Likewise, you can’t support the emerging post modern and integral consciousness with the strict empirical measure of short term bottom line gain.

Obama has seemingly embraced this emerging world fully. After running the most participative and publicly engaged campaign in history, he’s carrying that forward as President Elect. Change.gov is the first hint of a new style of world politics and democracy that people will be demanding in the decades to come, and as the National Post reported, he has committed the White House to the continuation of this approach by establishing a new cabinet position with a mandate for transparency and the ongoing engagement of the American public.

Gregor Robertson has the potential to create similar change on a civic level. Time will tell if he chooses to do so. For now, my work with Vision is complete and I’m grateful for having been able to contribute in a small way to the betterment of the city, and with luck, to the first steps in reshaping the way government works.


PS – special thanks to Jason & Jordan of Communicopia; Christine, Catherine, Emily, Darko and Phillip of Agentic; and Tim and Nicholas at Biro Creative. You kept me going throughout the campaign.

This BBC London News video covered the remarkable parthenogenesis "virgin birth" event at London Zoo earlier this year.

I've always had a vivid imagination and I've always been a big dreamer. The first one has often caused me horrible nightmares and the second had taken me to amazing places and fulfilled many yearnings.

I'm leaving to spend the weekend in a rural wilderness. This means I'll have to knock NaBlo on the head, but it might help with the state of my head, if you see what I mean. After all, my posting has been below par recently. Expect photos and a better blog post on Monday. I hope you all have fabulous weekends!

Hello, Steve Swasey again. I'm amending my entry from Tuesday as availability (or temporary unavailability) of titles is not necessarily a license issue. Otherwise, our statement from Tuesday is the same.


Amended statement: As watching instantly becomes a more prominent part of the Netflix service, our goal is to have all of our streaming content available for all of our partner devices. We’re doing well in this area, but it will take some time before we fully achieve that goal. Today, titles regularly come in and out of availability and there is a natural ebb and flow to what we have available at any given point in time. In the case of Xbox 360, a few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console. Those titles are still available to be watched on subscribers’ computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they’ll be available for Xbox 360 shortly.

I shouted at someone in a meeting today. Things are obviously getting to me, in some kind of undefinable way. I need to work it out, and then I'll write it down.

I finally got my printed greeting cards :-) And they're looking fine! If you want a copy, you can buy them on my website. But first: have a closer look on Flickr.

Why are all boob-augmentation plastic surgeons featured on TV (either fictionally or non-fictionally) men?Seriously. Considering that the vast majority of plastic surgery candidates are women, there has to be a market for an expert, non-male pair of hands to be messing around with your lady lumps (or other private parts, for that matter). Is this just another example of TV not reflecting

Hello. Steve Swasey, here, Catherine Fisher's colleague in Corporate Communications. Following up on Catherine's post, a comment on title availability to watch instantly:

As watching instantly becomes a more prominent part of the Netflix service, our goal is to have all of our streaming content licensed for all of our partner devices. We’re doing well in this area, but it will take some time before we fully achieve that goal. Today, titles regularly come in and out of license and there is a natural ebb and flow to what we have on license at any given point in time. In the case of Xbox 360, a few hundred titles are temporarily unavailable to be streamed via the Xbox game console. Those titles are still available to be watched on subscribers’ computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they’ll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly.

Hello. Catherine Fisher here from Netflix PR. I wanted to let everyone know that the New Xbox Experience is available tomorrow, which means current Xbox LIVE Gold and Netflix members can have thousands of movies and TV episodes instantly streamed to their TVs via the Xbox 360. There will also be a modest amount of titles (approximately 300) offered in high definition on the Xbox 360. For now they will play with standard definition audio and we will eventually add multi-channel audio.

New Zealand's Scoop has further good news about the recovery of Sarah.

An important breeding kakapo who had the misfortune of injuring her “private parts” when she unintentionally sat on a sharp stick, has been successfully rehabilitated at Auckland Zoo, and is to return to her home on Codfish Island.
[...]
Sarah, who is being flown home tomorrow morning, is one of the original founder kakapo birds from Stewart Island. Discovered there in 1989 and relocated to Codfish Island, she has produced two offspring in the past six years – six-year-old male Ariki, and three-year-old female, Pounamu.

The article goes onto say that the conservation team are confident of a good 2009 breeding season, due to the bumper crop of Rimu already growing. With six surviving chicks from 2008, keep your fingers crossed and we could make the magic 100 next year!

Breeding seasons in successive years is a very unusual event. The last large breeding season was in 2002, when 24 chicks were produced.

I saw this on Jonathan's site and I think it deserves to be spread as far and wide as possible. Highlights include the Wookie noise, and 'Nobody cares. I suggest a new strategy'. Enjoy!

RedOrbit.com has an interesting article about the steps scientists must make in order to claim that a species has gone extinct. They use the Baiji Dolphin as a prime example.

scientists must undergo endless searching to prove that any individual species has gone the way of the dodo.

"If there's one thing in my career I'd like to be proved wrong about, it's the baiji," said Sam Turvey of the Zoological Society of London, using another name for the Yangtze River dolphin.

Turvey interviewed Chinese fishermen for almost 3 months earlier this year, hoping to record sightings of the long-snouted dolphin, which has not been seen since 2002. Some colleagues in China are still looking.

In 2006, the baiji was almost declared extinct after an acoustic and visual survey of the river turned up nothing. Yet a blurry video forced experts to rate it "possibly extinct."

I was at a wedding this saturday. Congratulations to Tex & Suz. I"m so happy for both of you guys and excited for you both. You guys are so cool and truly a joy to hang out with. Second, I'm really upset that I didn't get to blow bubbles at you guys. I was looking forward to it all night and come time to do it, i hop into the ELEVATOR, and what do you know....it gets stuck! Yes we were stuck between the 4th floor and the bride and groom were long gone. This was a first for me and hopefully the last but I do have to say it was really funny. There were about 12 people including the mother of the Groom in the Elevator! We all made it out alive, here are a few iphone picks from the madness........

Here's an old film from the Kakapo Recovery Programme, circa 1999.

This is a mockup for the cover of my latest chilren's book. Have a closer look on Flickr.

I have taken some uber-vitamin in an effort to get rid of what could probably best be described as nothing worse than a bad cold. The horse-tablet turned my pee luminous yellow, which indicates something: I'm just not sure what. Let's hope it's the activity of little saviours, on a microscopic level.Between 1am yesterday morning and 8am this morning, I have slept for 20 hours, which is not bad

Clip from a Kakapo documentary...

This longer clip cannot be embedded, but talks about Richard Henry.

sometimes you need one and sometimes you don't.......

It appears that I have been overdoing things. I have succumbed to my first illness in nearly 3 years. I am rarely sick, so when it happens, I morph into a blob and bellyache my way through the day. It is possible to relate my overall sense of well-being by reference to my hair. Today's hair looks like it was mauled by a wild boar. Yesterday morning I woke up feeling like crap. My nose was

With the successful release into the wild of 2008's six surviving chicks, we now stand at 90 living Kakapo Parrots.

This Wikipedia page contains the most up-to-date information on their names, but here they are in a simplified view, with much of their family tree information removed.

FEMALES - Total 44 Alice Aparima (Born 2002, Mother of a 2008 chick) Aranga Bella Boomer Cyndy (Three chicks in 2008) Ellie Esperance Flossie Fuchsia Hananui Hauturu Heather Hine taumai Hoki Jane Jean JEM (Hatched: 2008) Konini Kuia Kuihi Lisa Maggie Marama Margaret-Maree "Marmar" Mila Monoa Nora Pearl Pounamu Pura Rakiura (Mother of two 2008 chicks) Ruth Sandra Sara Solstice Sue (Mother of one 2008 chick) Suzanne Toitiiti (Hatched: 2008) Tumeke Weheruatanga o te po (Hatched: 2008) Wendy Yasmin Zephyr --- Recently deceased John-Girl (Died: September, 1991) Aroha (died: July 2004) Aurora (died: July 2004) Vollie (died: July 2004)

MALES - Total 46 Al Arab Ariki Barnard Basil (2008 Father of...) Ben Blades Blake Bonus Boss Dobbie Doc Elwin (Unofficial name - Hatched: 2008) Felix Gulliver Gumboots Horton Jester (Hatched: 2008) Jimmy (2008 Father of...) Joe Kumi Lionel Luke Manu Merty Merv Morehu Nog Ox (2008 Father of...) Palmer-san Piripi Ralph Richard Henry Robbie Rooster (Unofficial name - Hatched: 2008) Sass Sinbad Sirocco Smoko Stumpy Takitimu Te Kingi Tiwai Trevor Waynebo Whiskas --- Recently deceased Gerry (Died: 1991) Pegasus (Died: 1993) Rob (Died: February 1994) Ken (Died: July 1998) Gunner (died: winter 2005) Bill (died: March 2008, 2008: father of:...) Mokopuna (died: April 2008, 2008 Chick #7) Lee (died: October 28, 2008)

Audio

Steinski – I'm wild about that thing – Illegal Art
Steinski – Solid air junk mood mix –Illegal Art
The Bug with Ricky Ranking – Flying – Ninja Tune
The Bug with Cha Cha – Poison dart (no f*ck2db) – dubplate
Dokkebi Q – Hardcore cherry bonbon – 3QREQ
Virus Syndicate with David Lewis – For the music – Contagious
Zomby – Test me for a reason – Hyperdub
Kode9 vs LD – Bad – Hyperdub
George Coleman – Cool it right – Mississippi
Ignatz – The Water – K-raa-k
Chang Loo – Sixteen tons – mp3
Todd Snider – Ponce of the flaming peace queer – Aimless Records
Blown Glass Typewriter – Mountains – Apestaartje
Sixto Silgado, Paito Y Los Gaiteros De Punta Brava - Merengue Faroto - Rough Guide
Franco - Esengo ya mokili - Sterns Music Africa
Mikey Dread / Singers + Players - Autobiography - On U Sound
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers -Roadrunner 1 - Castle Communications
Big Youth - Big Youth Special - Virgin
Orchestre Poly-Rhthmo de Cotonou - Mi Ni Non Kpo - Analog Africa
Waitless - I surrendaa (eu me entregou) - Poo Productions
Witchdoktors - Common Prayer (for a working Man) - Tribal Vibes
Okie Rosette - Sing the Hotel - Montreme Records
PSI - Clo - crafu Byw
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid - Arrival - Domino

Check out these videos of Sirocco the Kakapo, filmed during the "Kakapo Encounter" on Ulva Island. Many thanks to SmithsonianMBC for posting these.

The Kakapo Recovery Programme ranger diaries has a new entry relating the latest good news and bad news about the Kakapos. The bad news being the recent death of Lee, along with a trip to hospital for Sarah. The good news being the release into the wild of the six remaining 2008 chicks (FEMALES: Weheruatanga o te po, JEM, and Toitiiti. MALES: Jester, Rooster* and Elwin* - *Still unofficial names), and the success of this year's Kakapo Encounter with Sirocco.

Sarah is also in hospital at Auckland Zoo at the moment. When she was caught for her transmitter change she had a large infected wound on her cloaca and was extremely light. She has made a good recovery and all going well looks set to return to the island in a few weeks. We all feel relieved that she is doing well but sad that a reliable breeder won't be in good enough condition to nest this summer.

The chicks have now asserted their independence and are bouncing around all over the island and it’s a constant surprise to see where they pop up next. Their weights are all stable or increasing so we feel confident now that they have made a successful transition to being wild kakapo. On the names front the three girls are now called Weheruatanga o te po, JEM, and Toitiiti. For the boys Jester has retained his name and Rooster and Elwin are awaiting new names from Murihiku iwi.

For this experiment, we took ten women aged between 25 and 35, and asked them to plan a hen's night (bachelorette party) for a colleague who is flying off to India to get married. The hypothesis was that seeing as each individual woman is possessed of at least rudimentary project and relationship management skills by virtue of being employed in challenging roles, this would not be traumatic.

Hey there. Steve Swasey here, Netflix VP of Corp. Communications. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and I enjoyed the NewTeeVee Conference yesterday in San Francisco, where Reed gave the afternoon keynote.

You've probably read about Reed's presentation in the blogosphere -- some of the greats covered it: Om Malik, GigaOm; Chris Albrecht, NewTeeVee; Will Richmond, Videonuze; Rafat Ali, PaidContent; Mike Kaltschnee, HackingNetflix.

Not reported though was a behind-the-scenes exchange between Reed and YouTube sensation "Fred" (15-year-old Nebraskan Lucas Cruikshank).

Reed introduced himself to the young phenom, who said he's a member of Netflix.

Reed congratulated Lucas on his composure -- the kid interviewed on stage with Chris Albrecht like an industry veteran -- adding, "Great that success hasn't gone to your head."

Replied Lucas: "You too."

The map page of the BBC's Last Chance To See website reveals where Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry will be headed for the remaining films in the TV series. They filmed in the Amazon in January of 2008, and have been in Africa and Madagascar during October and November 2008.

After a well deserved Christmas break, January 2009 will see them in The Sea of Cortez, Mexico to film endangered whales, an effective replacement to travelling to China to look in vain for the "extinct" Baiji Dolphin.

View Larger Map

February 2009 they head down to New Zealand to see the 90 remaining Kakapo Parrots and other species.

View Larger Map

The final trip will be to Komodo in April 2009. Here be dragons...

View Larger Map

In light of the BBC site's new geographic restrictions on media content, I recommend subscribing to Stephen Fry's site where he continues to post videos from the field, and occasional "blessays" and podcasts. His Twitter feed (see sidebar on the homepage) also features regular photographs of their travels, such as this encounter with a lemur on Madagascar.

I have nothing to say. Sorry!

The following is a disturbing profile of the state of the computer recycling business in the United States, and where the electronics end up.

The town of Guiyo in southern China is now one of the most polluted places on earth, registering the highest levels of cancer causing dioxins anywhere recorded. Governments are guilty of turning a blind eye, as businesses in both the US and China profit from the poisonous conditions.

Watch CBS Videos Online

The undersized mantid I named "Lefty" shed his(her?) skin last week, and a couple of disfigurements became evident.

You can see in the photo above that his left front leg is slightly malformed. Also, you can see a weird little "finger" of his left mandible is also jutting out in an unnatural manner.


Without a full complement of mouthparts, and a sub-par set of graspers, eating has been a little difficult for him. This may have something to do with his being so small this late in the year, although I don't know if it's the cause or the effect of his problems.

In any case, I decided to return Lefty to the arboretum this morning, to live his life in the perilous freedom that Nature intended. Next weekend, I will be going on a little trip, and I don't want to have to worry about him languishing in a bug container while I'm away.

ETIII is another story. Her leafy eucalyptus branches can stay fresh for several days in the little vase in her container, and my boys can manage to give her a quick spritz of water once a day.

I cracked and ordered the all-new re-vamped My So-Called Life DVD box set, with extras. I realise that having two box sets of exactly the same series sounds ludicrous, but I must have the commentaries and commemorative book, and $38.99 is a small price to pay. It's available on Amazon.com.

I'm very disappointed to report that the BBC's Last Chance To See website is now blocking all audio and video content to users outside of the UK. I can't tell you how sad I am about this development. I was really enjoying following along with the development of this series, something that's been close to my heart for nearly 5 years now. The Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine video blogs were always entertaining, and I'd been enjoying the original radio episodes too. All are now unavailable to me. I'm sure there are greater powers at work than the Last Chance To See production team here, but I am DEEPLY saddened by this. If there was a way I could PAY for access, I would. What a shame - it just doesn't make any sense to me.

In the mid-1990s, I was an angst-ridden teenager, going through the grunge phase of my life. I had a low-life boyfriend, and my life revolved around the happenings in school. How would we buck the system today? Who was sleeping around? Who was doing drugs? Who had been in the unenviable position of arriving home at 1.30AM having thrown up half a bottle of peach schnapps, realising she'd

One of the very first posts I made on this blog, back in 2004, was about this wonderful Douglas Adams lecture entitled "Parrots, The Universe and Everything", which is mostly about "Last Chance To See". At the time, it was only available as a fairly low quality stream, direct from the University of California Television website. It is still available at UCTV, but now, through the magic of YouTube (which didn't even EXIST in 2004), I can present it for your enjoyment right here. ENJOY!

This report from the Daily Nexus Online describes the lecture, and how it was enjoyed by an enthusiastic audience of some 800 people.

Very sadly, this is one of the last public appearances by Douglas, as he would tragically die the following month. Still so very sadly missed.

The BBC Last Chance To See "Radio" page has been updated to include the second full radio episode "Gone Fishing!". This episode features Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine in their hunt for the Yangtze's Baiji Dolphin, which led to one of the most well loved passages in the original Last Chance To See book - the trip to the Shanghai Friendship Store. The BBC have pushed back the release of the Rodrigues Fruitbat radio episode, originally scheduled for today, until December.

The radio series episode guide in David Haddock's "The Story of Last Chance To See" has been updated with the link to all the audio released so far.

Once, when I was a kid, I tried to buy something from the neighborhood ice cream truck using only play money. I had a wad of fake bills, totalling possibly thousands of fake dollars. Surely it would be worth at least a dime's worth of goodies. (Uh, no, said the ice cream man.)

Anyway, here's another even more amusing story about someone trying to use his humble artwork to help pay the bills.

Broke Man Tries Paying Bill With a Picture of a Spider

Most political news in Vancouver has been swirling around the $100 million loan that is reportedly been authorized as a bailout cushion to either Millennium Development Corp (the company building the Olympic Village) or Fortress (the American lender funding the project).

Despite the host of petty questions that have gained centre stage in the drama - who leaked the info, is this political grandstanding by Vision, is it a distraction from Gregor Robertson's $173 transit fine - the key question for most voters is the one concerning democratic principle.

There are two ways of looking at the situation. In broad terms they fall along two distinct philisophical lines:

1. The corporate meritocracy: NPA argues that the details concerning the $100 million loan are part of ongoing negotiations with the developers and financial backers and that strict confidence is necessary to protect the city and to obtain the best outcome for tax payers. Implicit in this statement are two points, 1) that elected municipal officials are the best stewards of public finances, and 2) as such should be trusted to manage city affairs to the best possible outcome for all.

2. The transparent democracy: Vision argues that because of the high value of the loan, and significant questions about the information upon which the authorization of the loan was based, the loan needs to be re-examined in public to ensure that the correct decisions are being made and that they were made for the right reasons. Implicit in this statment are two points, 1) that elected officials are subject to personal motivations and influence and 2) transparency is needed to maintain accountability to the public and a genuine democratic process.

This is the real issue Vancouver voters are facing.

On the backdrop of these two perspectives we have the following question marks:

• the magnitude of the loan guarantee itself and the means of covering it
• the role of the city to disburse signficant public funds
  
• the city CFO had significant concerns about the amount of risk in the project
• that same CFO has resigned under uncertain circumstances
• Millennium is in apparent financial trouble and has halted work on their project in West Vancouver, and their Nanaimo project is in trouble
  
• Fortress is in apparent financial trouble and is one of the lenders involved in a legal battle with Donald Trump over an unfinished Chicago skyscraper, they have seen their stock tumble this year, and they will be releasing their 3rd quarter report on Thursday
• The apparent conflict of interest between the NPA and Millennium in the lead up to the award of the contract

These are critical questions, and the way we choose to address and answer them ultimately defines how our elected democracies function. On the basis of these two philosophies, and in the midst of these questions, the NPA says that they should be trusted to make the right decisions. Vision says public accountability is necessary to ensure the right decisions are made. Which is correct?

The situation has arisen in the broader context of an American economic meltdown that threatens the entire world ecomony. A meltdown caused in large part by tax policy, deregulation, and public spending that all place increasing amounts of public funds into the hands of large corporations and the wealthiest citizens with little to no oversight.

In financially backing the $1 billion Olympic Village to the tune of almost 1/3rd - $290 million all in - The NPA's handling of the development represents an American model that is proving disastrously outdated.


Update November 13th, 2008: Fortress' third quarter report states greater than expected losses.

Stylized 3D illustration about the engineer of the future.

More at Sevensheaven.nl

It's been a busy day in the household. First, I went to work, as usual. After a day of working on something of vital international importance (I jest, sort of) and fielding questions about the latest issues to arise in the world of preventing people getting their just deserts, I did some Bookcrossing, and then went to my new class.Arsetanga Yoga, so-called not because it is arse, but because it

The Daily Record calls this documentary, narrated by Bernard Hill, a "Don't Miss".

The Natural World is coming up for its 25th birthday but Titus, above, has been around a good deal longer, and at 33 years of age he is still king of the jungle in his mountain retreat in Rwanda.

It's rare for any wild animal's life to be chronicled over decades but Titus and his forbears were among the gorillas first studied in the wild by pioneering wildlife researcher Dian Fossey, of Gorillas in the Mist fame, and his whole life has been conducted in front of cameras.

BBC page.

Recently I have been thinking ALOT about the cycle of life, and one thing I have been trying to make peace with is that there is no apparent rhyme or reason to it.

I'm feeling quite proud of myself this week, when I reflect on my arse-related commitments.Bike-riding: To work four times, and back again three times. Excuse? Hellacious weather. It is not an exaggeration. Trust me when I say that I have been blown on to the wrong side of the road, into the path of oncoming traffic. Cigarettes: 1. Soft-shoe shuffle!Yoga: two classes. One under par, but in

Stephen Fry added this picture of an Aye-Aye lemur to his Twitter feed the other day.

A friend came round and downloaded an Arcade emulator onto my computer. Suddenly, it's 1985 and blogging hasn't been invented yet.

Congratulations to the Kakapo Parrot, which has won the New Zealand's Forest and Bird organization's "Bird of the Year" competion, by a landslide majority!

The kakapo won the avian electoral race with 578 votes, well ahead of its closest rival, the takahe, which scored 322 votes - a landslide victory for the world’s heaviest parrot.

In what was a tense electoral race in which the feathers often flew, the kakapo struggled to find support in the early weeks of the month-long polling period, but flew past the opposition in the final two weeks of the campaign.

Audio

The Johnnie Taylor Chronicle - I Could Never Be President - Stax
Four Tops - Strung Out on Your Love - abc
James Brown - America is My Home Pt 1 - Polydor
James Brown - Bring It Up - Polydor
Gil Scott-Heron - Revolution will not be televised - Kent Soul
James Brown - Funky President (People It's Bad) - Polydor
The Pointer Sisters - Yes We Can Can - Soul Jazz
The Impressions - We're A Winner - Kent Soul
Great Peso & Papa Austin - Wrong Girls To Play - Smokin' Records
George Benson - When Love Comes Calling - Expansion Records
Glayds Knight & The Pips - Landlord - Columbia
Ann Peebles - I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down (from Take me to the River)- Kent Soul
Paul Humphrey - Scream & Shout - Stanson
Jazznova feat. Danny Krivit - Theme From Belle et Fou - Sonar Kollective
Garnett Mims & Truckin' Company - What It Is (Part II) - Arista Records
Somi African Lady - The Soul Feast African Suite Version - srm
Ultramagnetic MC's - Chorus Line - Next Plateau
Jorge Ben & Trio Mocoto - Pulo, Pulo (Live in Japan) - bbe
Mike "T" - Do It Any Way You Wanna - Golden Pyramid
Love Over Money - Keep On - Tone Control
The Creative & The Receptive - Skin Tight-Too - Tropical

Among the furore surrounding the US Presidential election, blink and you'd be forgiven for missing it. New Zealand's 3 million voters head to the polls today. I don't have the right to vote here.The Kiwi political system is the kind of complicated that makes you want to crawl back under the duvet. It is a proportional representation system, rendering it virtually incomprehensible to those of

A shaky looking Peter Ladner fielded some tough questions from Global TV this afternoon over city council's authorization for a loan of up to $100 million to bailout Vancouver's Olympic Village.

During the interview, Ladner defended his refusal to divulge the details of the in-camera meeting that led to the potential loan. His spin may have carried the day had it not been for Global's damning follow up story.

Quoting documents released through Freedom of Information requests, the Global story implicates the former president of Ladner's NPA party, Paul Barbeau, with Armeco, the group who owns the Millennium Development Corp - developers of the Olympic Village and a potential recipients of the city's $100 million loan.

To quote:

"Millennium is the development arm of the Armeco Group. The NPA council picked Armeco's Millennium for the massive (Olympic Village) deal, and Paul Barbeau was the President of the NPA and the President of Armeco Construction Limited in the years prior to the award."

A fine spot for Vancouver tax payers. See the Ladner interview below, and click here for the video story on Barbeau (if it won't load, go here and select "NPA linked to project").

I had been back in New Zealand for less than 24 hours when I received the call every migrant dreads."Hello. How was your holiday?" said my mother, but her voice sounded like it was missing something. Hollow, and exhausted. I launched into stories about what a great time we'd had, but how it had been marred with having to deal with the problems of our tenants. "That's nice." she replied, and it

A big story broke this morning in the Vancouver civic campaign via the Globe and Mail. Gary Mason reported that the city had agreed to provide loans of up to $100 million to the Millennium Development Corporation in order to shore up the floundering construction of the Olympic Village.

The city's Director of Finance has apparently resigned over the issue, and NPA mayoral candidate (and the current chair of the city finance committee) Peter Ladner has been silent since being confronted with the story at this morning's mayoral debate.

In addition to local media, the CBC, The Canadian Press, The Calgary Herald and The UK Guardian have all picked up the story, dealing a potentially a devastating blow to Ladner and the NPA with just 9 day's left in the campaign. It was the top story on the Global TV, and to be frank, the sight of Ladner publicly shocked when confronted with the news that the city's Director of Finance had resigned was not good for his cause.

More from Vision here and here.

This is Neil Hunt, Netflix chief product officer, with some technical background on the Netflix encodes used for streaming. We get a lot of questions about this, so I'm going to go deep.

First Generation Encoding

Our first set of encodes are based on WMV3 and WMA in ASF with WMDRM10 (Janus). We chose these standards because the Janus components have been widely adopted by our CE partners such as Roku, LG Electronics, Samsung, TiVo, and of course Microsoft Xbox.

We encode most content at 500, 1000, 1600, and 2200kbps VBR, but some titles whose source quality merits it have also been encoded at 3400kbps. The highest bitrate encodes are fit into 720x480 non-square pixels (the usual 1.2 PAR for widescreen content, 0.9 PAR for 4:3), but optimum encoding at lower bitrates is achieved with fewer pixels. Encoded films are normally at 24fps to match the source, while shot-to-video and mixed material is de-interlaced to 30fps (or 25fps for PAL content).

Second Generation Encoding

The new Silverlight player (that some users are helping us test as I write) uses VC1 Advanced Profile encoding with PlayReady DRM. A key property is that each GOP header includes frame size and resolution, which allows us to assemble a stream on the fly from different bitrate encodes as your broadband bandwidth fluctuates. (Another key feature is more coverage, including Intel Macs and Firefox users.) We expect to switch completely to the new player later this year.

The VC1 encoders are more efficient than the WMV3 encoders, so we are currently encoding VC1AP at slightly lower birates: 375, 500, 1000, and 1500kbps, all square pixel. At some point we are likely to add a couple more resolutions of non-square pixel encodes capturing the original pixel-aspect-ratio of the source.

We are also re-wrapping the VC1AP encodes in WMDRM10 for CE devices, which will gradually switch to the more efficient encodes in future firmware upgrades.

High Definition Encodes

Today we have rights to deliver about 400 streams in HD (720p). More titles will be added over time. We experimented with first-generation WMV3 encodes at 4000kbps and 5500kbps, but settled on second-generation HD encodes with VC1AP at 2600kbps and 3800kbps, which extends their accessibility down to lower home broadband connections. As with SD, encodes of film material are at 24fps, and encodes of shot-to-video material are at 30fps (or 25fps for PAL), rather than the 60fps that would come from a Blu-ray disc - we judged the 60fps content as too expensive of bandwidth for now. In general, these encodes are definitively better than SD, but won't challenge well-executed Blu-ray encodes - that would require a bitrate out of reach for most domestic broadband today. We believe Moore's law will drive home broadband higher and higher enabling full 1080p60 encodes in a few years.

Stereo Audio

Today, we cannot use WMDRM to deliver AC3 or DD+ audio, which means that only stereo (delivered via WMA) is available. PCs and Macs decode the WMA, and CE players also transcode to PCM for digital connections to receivers. We could technically include multichannel audio using WMAPro, but essentially no receivers are actually capable of decoding that. We are working on solutions to deliver multichannel audio for all the streams where we have suitable source, but this won't happen in 2008 for sure.

Subtitles, Closed Captions, and Alternate Soundtracks

All these features are desired for future releases. Delivering closed-captions via the Silverlight player is probably closest, but it won't be 2008 either.

Sources

Our best sources are electronically delivered mezzanine files, or high quality D5 tapes, and the highest bitrate encodes of these sources really look as good or better than DVDs. Digibeta tape sources can also generate good encodes, but some sources just are not as good, regardless of the bitrate used for encoding. We also encode from DV tape and even on occasion from DVDs. We get HD sources for many titles, even if we only have the rights to stream SD. The HD sources permit a better SD encode than working from SD soures.

One class of sources has been derived from 24fps film, interlaced to i60 for TV broadcast, and then decimated to p30, and comes with restrictions on reprocessing. This results in frames that are even-odd interlaces of adjacent film frames, and a 4/5 cadence motion jerkiness. We are actively working to re-acquire these sources in better form.

Delivered Quality

Our first-gen PC streaming player uses 1-4 bars to represent the delivered quality, representing 500, 1000, 1600, and 2200 kbps. The 3400kbps encodes are represented as 4 bars. The player measures bandwidth once at the start of the title, and chooses a bitrate for delivery that has at least 40% headroom from the measured speed.

The Roku, LG, and Samsung, players use four dots during buffering in the same way, and Xbox has 4 bars just like the PC player. The TiVo player has a similar display, but with 10 thin bars.

The Silverlight player is currently more opaque, since it picks the stream to deliver dynamically. If your connection slows, as the buffer empties, the player starts buffering a lower bitrate stream and switches seamlessly across. Conversely, if the buffer fills rapidly again, the player can pick a higher bitrate stream. (Note that if Outlook (or some other large application) decides to wake up and refresh your email in the middle of a movie, Silverlight might be starved of CPU and drop some frames; this may cause the player to conclude that it should switch to a lower bitrate stream that won't overload the CPU. Today, we haven't figured a reliable way to determine that the CPU is again underutilized and permit switching back up again, so my advice is to close Outlook and similar periodically expensive applications prior to playing the movie!)

Other Notes

We strive to deliver great encodes, and the encoding recipe evolves as we learn new tricks and engage new encoding technology. Since we have a variety of software and CE players in the field, we have to continue to support existing encodes for a transition period if new versions incompatible with existing players are added, until we can work with partners to upgrade firmware to support the new encodes.
One new feature that I want to add is a post-play screen that appears when a playback is stopped, so that users can easily flag when encodes fall below par, so that we can prioritize identifying and fixing issues.

Country of my parents' birth: Thank you. Well done. Congratulations!

The Boston Globe has an excellent photo compilation honouring the next President of the United States.

Congratulations USA.

Check out this smashing video of Mark Carwardine getting excited, almost emotional, at the thought of going to visit the Mountain Gorillas once again. He describes it as one of the highlights of his 25 year wildlife watching career.

Here's video of Mark and Stephen Fry setting out on the trek, which he would ultimately describe as "worth every sobbing, gasping, aching step" (which we mentioned last week).

The world is watching you, USA. I have my fingers crossed, and I care deeply about the outcome. Most of you can probably figure out that if I were able to, I'd vote for Obama*. But the most important thing is that whatever your political preference, you use your right to self-determination. I love music, and my political awakening was helped along the way by a little band called Carter USM

The United States is on the verge of history today and at the polls they are making it already. News reports from around the country are predicting the highest voter turnout in more than a century as 80% or more of all registered voters are lining up at the polls.

People are not lazy. They’re not apathetic. And if there is a lesson to take away from today it has to do with the quality of the individual who chooses to run for office. People care about politics everywhere, and they’re waiting for the smallest sign of leadership, direction, and a vision of tomorrow that is better than what we have today.

It’s the failure of our parties and representatives to offer that hope that keeps people from the polls, not a flaw in the voters themselves.

Enjoy today’s moment in history, and work to bring a part of it to your country and your community.

It's that time again: the time when I berate myself for being a flabtastic mess of non-conformity in a world of taught, toned, plasticised models. I know I should be sharpening my feminist pencil and jabbing it in the eye of the patriarchy. But what upsets me is not really non-conformity to society's standards: it's conformity to my own standards. I don't care about how much I weigh. I haven't

Hi, it’s Meghan here, and I have some news for those of you who purchase previously viewed DVDs through the Netflix Web site.

As you know, our core business is delivering great movie rentals to you on DVD by mail and instantly to the computer and TV, so we’ve decided it makes sense for us to focus exclusively on that. This means we will stop selling previously viewed DVDs through the Web site. We’re sorry for any inconvenience for those of you who regularly purchase DVDs at Netflix, but we’re excited about being able to spend the extra time focusing on continually improving our core rental business for you.

Online sales will continue through the end of the day on November 30^th. Until then, please feel free to shop our wide selection of previously viewed titles available at prices as low as $5.99. Click here to see the selection.

NOTE: I'd like to clarify that although we will stop selling our previously viewed DVDs on the website after November 30th, this is in no way an indicator of moving away from DVDs. On the contrary, we believe that DVDs will continue to be important for the next five to ten years at least, and are continually adding new DVD and Blu-ray discs to our catalog.

I hadn't planned on raising any more Extatosoma tiaratum ("ET") stick insects, after raising 2 consecutive generations. When my ETII matured early this year, I was careful to keep the eggs contained and later destroyed them. These insects would be considered invasive here. There was a place in my yard, though, where I allowed ETII to hang out. A prickly bramble vine (ET food) had started growing spontaneously, coincidentally, right around the time I first started playing with these bugs a few years ago. It hangs down from the top of a retaining wall, over a concrete walkway. It was nice to be able to let her spend time outside safely, and it was easy for me to find her eggs on the sidewalk, where I simply stepped on them.

Apparently, one egg fell through the cracks. Literally.

Yesterday, I found this ET hatchling on the side of a trash can, just inches away from the very vine where her momma used to hang out. I hope there aren't any more out there, but there may well be...

ETIII

The GuardianWeekly site recently ran this interview with Vikash Tatayah, a conservationist with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. In it, he tells of his experiences with the endangered animals on the island, including the Mauritius Kestrels and Pink Pigeons.

You have to be slightly crazy to be in this business. The Mauritian Wildlife Foundation has been very successful in restoring animals, plants and forests, and people from all around the world come to volunteer on the programme every year. I oversee the conservation of Mauritius kestrels, pink pigeons (distant relatives of the Dodo), seabirds, reptiles and Mauritian fruit bats.

The Mauritius kestrel used to be the most endangered bird in the world. In 2004 there were only four kestrels known to be in the wild – now there are over 800. I’m proud to say that Mauritius and the neighbouring island of Rodrigues have saved more bird species than any other country in the world.

For more information, visit the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation website, where they are currently recruiting for a Round Island warden, although the webpage with the details is currently blank.

In July we reported that a pair of non-resident landlords had been having serious problems with their tenants. The tenants had stopped paying rent and the day after notice to quit was served, a large portion of the ceiling in the main bedroom mysteriously collapsed.Following these events, and despite repeated written demands, the tenants failed to pay rent and threatened to counter-claim for

The BBC Last Chance To See website "Radio" page has added an update to say that the 4th episode of the original radio series (Rodrigues Fruitbat) will be available online from November 11th, 2008. This will add to the Aye-Aye and Amazonian Manatee episodes already available. It would appear that the Beeb will be releasing the episodes out of their original broadcast order, as and when Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine get to the relevant point in their travels to make it relevant.

For the record, below you will find the radio series episode guide as compiled by David Haddock in his excellent article "The Story of Last Chance To See".

The episodes will be "linked" as and when the BBC adds the audio of the programmes to their site. The first entry on the list below is the "chatty ten-minute radio programme of [Douglas Adams] speaking over a background of wildlife sounds" which acted as the precursor to the full Last Chance To See expeditions and radio shows which followed a few years later.

Prelude: Natural Selection: In Search of the Aye-Aye [Aye-Aye Lemurs - 01/11/1985]
1: Ralph, The Fragrant Parrot Of Codfish Island [Kakapo Parrot - 04/10/1989]
2: Gone Fishing! [River Dolphin - 11/10/1989]
3: Animal, Vegetable Or Mineral? [Amazonian Manatee - 18/10/1989]
4: The Answer Is Blowing In The Wind [Rodrigues Fruit Bat - 25/10/1989]
5: A Man-Eating, Evil-Smelling Dragon [Komodo Dragon - 01/11/1989]
6: The Sultan Of Juan Fernandez [Fur Seal - 08/11/1989]