Eye Spy Trouble

Let me start with a little story. This morning, I was in the car with my father and my brother going to work and school, as we usually do during the week. As oftenly seen, we all noticed a bad and dangerous driver. Driving in his white Acura with a business plate (FDR******), he first tried to cut us off from an on-ramp. Then, since he was such an important person and obviously was obliged to drive recklessly to get where he was going, he used a bus only "dock" that is located annex to the highway (used as a bus stop for express buses) to bypass more traffic. So, needless to say, he did get further ahead by breaking the law and we thought that was the last we would be seeing of him. Where were the police when you need them?

Anyways, traffic was smooth and we managed to get quite far ahead. Suddenly, I noticed we were driving next to this white Acura again. It just so happened that I was looking out the window at that specific moment. The driver, a young rapper-styled man between the age of 18 to 20, was talking on his phone and looked agitated. He was seated next to his passenger, a female of the same age range. He then turned his head and noticed us looking in his direction. Remember, we did nothing but look. For some unknown and probably ridiculous reason, he rolled down the window and began honking repeatedly to get our attention. We just ignored him. This irritated him and after 3 to 4 attempts, he faked (or wanted to but missed) scratching our car with his mirror to show that he meant business. This guy really angered me. In the commotion and obviously not expecting this situation, I forgot to take the camera phone out and take a picture of his license plate number. We really probably should of reported him for intent on damage and intimidation. He really managed to scare me, since I didn't know what to expect, hearing all the stories of road rage.

Anyways, the point of the story is, that it got me thinking of how useful CCTV camera's would be in this situation. They would have noticed the car driving erratically for kilometers and the police would have stopped him. Also, they could serve as evidence later on if anything would have happened. Just a thought.

Remembering The Tango

In the world of sustainable architecture, I would like to look back a few years to 2003. Moore Ruble Yuddle, a architectural firm, created the Tango Housing Project. It is an exploration in mixing beautiful design, sustainability and high technology to bring a flagship home of the 21st century. Here is a quote from Popular Science's article where I first discovered this beautiful structure:

"They live in Tango, a green-and-wired 27-unit complex that decontaminates its own soil, recycles its water into a rebuilt marsh ecology, generates power from renewable sources, uses roof space to put oxygen back into the environment and, through sensors and broadband Web access, allows owners to re-motely monitor and control everything from energy use to electronic key access."

Update On Wave Power

If you're still hungry for more information about wave-power, here is an excellent post at Treehugger.com. Also, on their homepage, you can find an interesting article on an alternative method to generate wave-power by the company Ocean Power Delivery Ltd. Here, you can see an animation of how the process works.

Charge her up!

As a guy and as an environmentalist, sometimes I find my likes and ideals tend to clash. When I first stumbled upon the Tesla Roadster of Tesla Motors, it seemed like I had tripped on an oxymoron. The Roadster is a really beautiful and fast car that emits no carbon dioxide or anything else for that matter, depending on the electricity's source of course. It is the balance of ying and yang in car form.

You can read the stats for yourself: 0 to 60 in about 4 secs; 135 mpg equivalent; 250 miles per charge... and 100% electric. If I could find $100 K in my couch, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't skip a beat running to the dealership!

In case you might be wondering where the hell did this car and this company came from, then you should probably read their blog. Here is a story of the man behind the dream.

Also, as a side note to the curious and aware, you can visit the site for the movie Who Killed the Electric Car and read the wikipedia listing for more information on the mysterious disappearance of one of the first electric cars, the EV1 of GM.

. ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT . Expand your collection

Today, I feel like reviewer a couple of my favorite bands: Anberlin, Bloc Party and Park.

. Anberlin .


Anberlin is a Florida based band producing some very catchy non-popish alternative music. I was introduced to the band when parusing purevolume. Feel Good Drag was my first song and I got hooked ever since. Two mentionable tunes are A Day Late and Symphony of Blase. Very awesome. Also visit their myspace and purevolume pages.

. Bloc Party .

This London indie-rock band was introduced to me by a very close friend. Their music will immediatly get you moving. They have a very distinct upbeat melodramatic sound that gives them their charm. Wether making political statements or singing about love, these guys know how to get your blood pumping and your feet jumping. All in all, they will remain a classic in my mind for many years to come and stay as the flagship of indie rock music. I highly recommend you check these guys out at myspace and purevolume. It is one of the few bands for which I enjoy all there songs, but some personal favorites are Blue Light, Like Eating Glass and Compliments.

. Park .


Now, Park will get all the repressed angry feelings out of you, put them into song and make you want to scream along with them. This most awesome indie emo rock band has a surprisingly powerful sound. The lyrics might make the weak hearted cringe, but all in all I feel their doing some of us a favor by helping us scream out our feelings so they do not built up inside. Again, pretty catchy music. A great song to listen to is Day One and Counting. Check them out at myspace and purevolume.

. SCIENCE & TECH . Sea Power

Hey hey, what do you get when you mix a buoy with a electrical generator? A very cool oceanic wave power source! The design differs from company to company, but the goal is the same: to capture the massive amounts of energy that exist in the world ocean's. It is basically a denser form of wind energy, since, in majority, wind is the driving force of wave action. The wind acts over a large area to produce a wave, which is condensed form of that energy. Therefore, extracting energy from waves is more efficient. Other advantages include predictability and dependability, since it is possible to monitor waves thousands of kilometers away and because it is vary rare for the ocean to have no waves.

Inspiration for the story courtesy of Discovery Channel's Daily Planet. Also, when there, check their very well designed broadband video player. Very cool! Althought, I must mention it will be hard to find this topic there. So, you can read some more information here or search google for "power buoy". Goodnight