Moving

A LOT OF NOTHING HAS MOVED!  Click here for the new site.

I have also posted on Wordpress.  Please check the alternative site here: alonothing.wordpress.com   and let me know which format you like better.  I'm leaning towards wordpress for now.  Feedback is appreciated.

 

Green City

Check out this Green City by Romses Architects 

MORE HERE

Crazy Fireworks!

The opening of a new Mega-Hotel in Dubai complete with fireworks... not to be confused with the London Blitz 

Good Idea

Tax cigarettes, alcohol, junk food to pay for health care reform?

Posted: 04:00 PM ET

FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:

Health care reform won’t come cheap, and that’s why lawmakers are considering higher taxes on everything from alcohol and cigarettes to junk food and soda as a way to pay for it. The Senate Finance Committee is looking into how to pay for this massive overhaul, which could cost $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

So-called sin taxes may raise $600 billion over the next decade.

Several experts are suggesting taxes on bad behavior, including a $2 dollar tax on a pack of cigarettes and a higher excise tax on alcohol.

Politico reports that the ranking Republican on the committee, Senator Chuck Grassley is nixing the idea of taxing soda and sugary drinks. But it’s easy to see why so-called sin taxes are appealing — taxing cigarettes, junk foods and alcohol could raise $600 billion over 10 years.

A recent poll found support among Americans for imposing such taxes to help pay for health care reform. The Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows 61 percent of those polled say they would be in favor of raising taxes on items that are thought to be unhealthy — like cigarettes, alcohol, junk food and soda. 37 percent are opposed.

When asked about specific items, there’s more support for taxing cigarettes and alcohol than snack foods and soda.

But before you start hoarding your beer and chips, Congress is also looking at other ways to pay for reform — like eliminating the tax-free status of company health benefits along with non-health related options like capping the deduction on charitable donations.

No Posts for a while

STUDYING FOR FINALS ALL THIS WEEK!

Religion is Bullshit

I miss good ole' Carlin standup 

FIRES IN SB!

MASSIVE FIRES IN SANTA BARBARA RIGHT NOW.  SCHOOL SHUT DOWN.  STAY TUNED!

The Story of Stuff

Check out the video at STORYOFSTUFF

The Story of Stuff

Check out the video at STORYOFSTUFF

L.A. is number 4?? What? 

Can you guess the cities that beat Los Angeles?

Top 10 Cities for Design in America

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GETTY IMAGES

Top 10 Cities for Design in America

By Oriana Schwindt

What makes a city great is a topic guaranteed to spark heated debate. Now architectural firm RMJM Hillier has ridden into the fray with a list of "America's Best Cities for Design," produced with the American Institute of Architecture and Zogby International. American cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants were judged according to criteria such as the quality of public transit, the number of LEED-registered buildings (indicating sustainable design) and how many of the city's employees work within creative industries such as performing arts or publishing. Interviews with residents were also used to rate a city's design factor, which takes in elements of a city's architecture as well as its appeal as a home for creative types. Large cities such as Los Angeles feature in the top 10, along with smaller ones such as Portland, Ore. But Chicago's greening efforts and architectural innovation saw it take top prize. Check out the winners here.

read the storypost a comment

VIA Businessweek

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Floatopia Video

my video from youtube was recently put onto the local news channel.  You can view the youtube original here.

The news segment is here.

Interesting Illusion

Firstly, answer this question:  what do you see in the picture below???

Now read on.

What is above the woman’s head? When scientists showed a similar sketch to people from East Africa, nearly all the participants in the experiment said she was balancing a box or metal can on her head.

In a culture containing few angular visual cues, the family is seen sitting under a tree. Westerners, on the other hand, are accustomed to the corners and boxlike shapes of architecture. They are more likely to place the family indoors and to interpret the rectangle above the woman’s head as a window through which shrubbery can be seen.

after reading i looked again and yeah, i could see that thing at the back as a tree and not the corner of a room, and the window as a box on that womans head.

i like those kinds of things.. it clearly demonstrates that what we see is just our brain trying to make since out of things - based on what it knows already; makes you wonder what reality really looks like.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

-Albert Einstein

via slash ninja

A similiar illusion . . .  What do you see?

Children see 9 dolphins as oppose to a man and women because they have yet to develop a sense of eroticism.  

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"Celebreality" Shows

An episode of VH1's Daisy of Love was on the t.v. today. . . I hope it never is again.  VH1 has been pumping out these shows of what they call "Celebreality."  Usually some C-list hollywood producer takes a washed-up 80's celebrity and puts them on their own show that somehow has to do with dating.  You may have heard of these shows: A Shot of Love with Tequila Tilli, Rock of Love, For the Love of Ray-J, I Love New York etc.  

Since when does being a myspace sensation make you a celebrity anyway?

I think most people watch these shows for couple of seconds, get a quick laugh, and then move on to another channel.  In no way do they provide of any form of entertainment.  In fact, I believe the FCC should impose sanctions upon shows of this nature because of their tendencies to dumb down their audience.  There is no better way to waste 30 minutes of your life than to watch 20 low-lifes try to win a date with a poster-child for plastic surgery. So the next time you wander upon one of VH1's shows, ask yourself what else you could do for the next 30 minutes that would actually stimulate your mind and be beneficial to your life. 

I hope I have not sounded too harsh on those people who watch these shows or make them, but this is really how I feel.

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Tree Houses

Some very cool houses featured here.  From the Chicago Tribune

Bicycle Friendly Cities

Ever since moving away to college I have virtually stopped driving.  First, in NYC the subway was my chosen mode of transportation.  Quick, east, cheap, eco-friendly and always amusing, the NYC has its own culture and vibe.  I always looked forward to a good cross town trip on the subway.  Now I am living in Santa Barbara and commuting to the city college here.  The bus is the most efficient way of getting between downtown SB and Isla Vista.  A bus pass is included with tuition and runs every 30 minutes to school and back.  It is very convenient and gives me time to finish up some homework or read a book because I don't have to do any driving!  

THE UCSB bike path

Me biking on the UCSB campus

Bicycles are for short trips in Isla Vista: to go surfing, run to the store, to go study at the UCSB library or for getting to a friends house.  Bicycles are everywhere in IV, in fact, stolen bicycles account for 90% of Isla Vista's crime rate.  Nearly every street in IV has a bike line and a bike path runs through the UC campus.  

I wish more cities could be bike friendly like IV.  What is better than a fast, simple, human powered machine?  I don't think L.A. will ever make this list but there is always hope.

Grab a helmet and check out these 15 pedal heavens, where drivers have actually been known to use all five fingers when they wave at you.

Check out the cities that made the list. 

Ra Ra Riot and Death Cab Tonight!

Ra Ra Riot and Death Cab @ UCSB thunderdome!

Cool Designs

Check out some photos of new green designs in Milan

Click here for more

MON >> APR 27, 2009

More Photos From Saturday's "New York Street Advertising Takeover"

Jennifer Jacobs

Tristan Eaton

Gaia and Rachel

Peru Ana Ana Peru

Via Woostercollective

Tweet: What's the deal with Twitter?

I'm not really sure I understand the whole Twitter phenomenon.  For those of you not familiar with Twitter , it is basically facebook.... except it's just the status part.   Users sign into an account for the sole purpose of alerting their friends to what they are doing at that particular moment. I have a Twitter, but I have a feeling it will be short lived.  I'll stick to FB for now.

Real City/ Virtual Social Networking?

I discovered a new social networking site (just what I needed right) today called you city.  It is still in the beta phase but it seems very promising and facebook has already shown interest in it.  It basically is an interactive Sim City program.  It is very much worth it to check it out. 

Interesting

I was browsing through the CNN videos today and found this.  If you find it interesting, you might want to watch one of my favorite t.v. shows, The Tudors on Showtime channel.

Socialism Video from Daily Show

A great parody by John Stewart and friends.  Why are Swedish girls so hot?? I gotta get over there for my next trip.

Some Words on Advice

I recently discovered a song by the 70s rock band Faces called "Ooh La La" and I instantly took a liking to it.  The melody and music are all very good, but the lyrics are something... and they got me thinking.  The chorus of "Ohh La La" goes: 

I Wish That I Knew What I Know Now, When I Was Younger

I Wish That I Knew What I Know Now, When I Was Stronger

Take a minute and listen to the song for yourself...

The song is especially appealing to me because I am still young and do not have many regrets.  But I am 2o years old, and I therefore would like to offer some advice to the younger kids:

1) 

Do well in school.  Listen to your teachers, do your homework and study.  I don't know why it took me until freshmen year of college to figure this out.  It's so simple; do the hard work in highschool so you don't have to do it in community college.  Even if it means staying in for a couple of hours on the weekend, it is well worth it, believe me.  Even though you think it's funny and think it will score you chicks, don't be this guy.

2) 

Get a job! It will keep you on top of things, you'll save up some money and you will be satisfied with yourself.  Aim for a job that tips.  Being a busboy is probably the easiest for first time job seekers.  When you're older and looking for a job, they'll ask for your past experience... make sure you have some.

3)

Travel Travel Travel.

4)

Read. I know it sounds boring, but I really wish I would have read more when I was younger.  You will learn a lot of new material and build your personal lexicon.  The best part of reading is that it can be done virtually anywhere and with so little time/effort.  I take the bus to school everyday and instead of listening to an Ipod, I read a book.  The bus is about 45 minutes round trip, at this rate I finish a book about every 1 to 2 weeks.  I just finished City of Thieves by David Benioff, a historical fiction about the Siege of Lenningrad.  Check it out.  

5)

Establish a healthy diet.  I have always had a somewhat good diet, but when your older you really must always eat healthy.  One of the easiest and most beneficial tweaks is to cut out soda, energy drinks and juices.  All of these are essentially just sugar+water+high fructose corn syrup.  Eat eggs for breakfast instead of cereal.  Eat Chicken over red meat. etc. etc. 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  If anything else comes up I'll post it.  Please excuse any grammatical errors, I wrote this rather quickly.  In the comment section, I invite those older than me to submit their advice to me or others my age.

Very cool video

What is this and why the hell do I see it all the Time?

RSS FEEDS

What they are and how to use them.

You may have seen this icon on your favorite webpages and, unaware of its function, scrolled right past it.  But if you take just two minutes to read this post, you will save countless hours (even days) that would be otherwise spent wasting time online.  

• The is symbol denotes a link to a websites RSS page.
• An RSS feed, when saved into an RSS reader, sends information to you instead of you searching for the information.
• Here it is explained in plain english:

SORRY, SOME IF THE VIDEO IS CUT OFF ON THE RIGHT SIDE, I'M NOT REALLY SURE HOW TO FIX THIS, yet.

• As a fan of anything google, I highly recommend using google reader. GR can also be linked with your gmail account and blogger account, among other things.
• So for now on, when you sign onto the internet, just check your google reader page instead of the countless other pages you would visit. 

So try it out, copy my blogs URL and then go to your google reader homepage, click on add subscription in the upper left hand corner, click save, and now you have your first RSS feed.

1st Post

So I have sunken myself deeper into the internet... I've started a blog. My first post will be relatively short. It will be interesting to see how long this whole thing lasts. I'm not exactly sure why I have started this blog, and if the title hasn't said it clearly enough, this blog is basically a lot of nothing. This is simply a virtual clipboard in where I will post and discuss things I find interesting from various sources, and I invite you to do the same in the comments section.

To start off, I was not particularly fond of blogs until recently. However, I have come to realize that blogs are an invaluable source of information for the things that interest me. Sort of like a party for newspaper editorial columnists, but everyone's invited. And isn't that the whole point of the internet, to share information quickly and conveniently?

Here are some of the blogs I frequent:

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/ Buildings!
http://matadornetwork.com/ For the traveler
http://pruned.blogspot.com/ Landscape architecture.
3 lil bi*ches. Blogger won't let me post a link with a vulgar URL, but visit 3lilbi*ches.blogspot of you're interested but replace the * with a "t." A cool blog started by 3 high school friends of mine.
http://www.woostercollective.com/ Street Art: New Art
http://mbcon.blogspot.com/
http://fitnessblackbook.com/
http://www.thecoolhunter.net/ Hunting cool things
http://www.lataco.com/
http://beatlesnumber9.com/
L.A.

... to name a few.

I will let one of my favorite fictional characters, Hank Moody, rant about blogs. I share some of his grievances:
(please excuse the subtitles)




In a later blog, I will show you how to stay up-to-date with your favorite blogs, newscasts, sports scores, and other internet information in fast and reliable way by utilizing RSS feeds.

This concludes my first ever blog post.