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Tom Spaulding has a huge collection of old signs.
If you like that kind of thing.
I’m a big FAN of religious architecture: the art of convincing people your God is important by impressing them with a building.
The one I’d most like to visit next is Tiger’s Nest Monastery in Bhutan. (Though I may need to become a monk to do so.)
Tiger’s Nest Monastery, perched precariously on the edge of a 3,000-feet-high cliff in Paro Valley, is one of the holiest places in Bhutan. Legend has it that Guru Rinpoche [wiki], the second Buddha, flew onto the cliff on the back of a tigress, and then meditated in a cave which now exists within the monastery walls.
The monastery, formally called Taktshang Goemba, was built in 1692 and reconstructed in 1998 after a fire. Now, the monastery is restricted to practicing Buddhists on religious retreats and is off-limits to ordinary tourists.
And I still haven’t seen Borobrodur in Indonesia:
Neatorama » Blog Archive » 10 Most Amazing Temples in the World
(via Dark Roasted Blend)
Neatorama also posted 10 Divinely Designed Churches (and a token Mosque).
Very short fiction (4 pages) that hits a little too close to home.
Google controls your e-mail, your videos, your calendar, your searches… What if it controlled your life?
You’d be
SCROOGLED
By Cory Doctorow
I know, I know. Four pages is way too long to read. A quick scan of some of the visuals is enough for you:
Read the short story: From The Magazine : Radar Online : Cory Doctorow imagines a world in which Google is evil
Cory Doctorow – official website
Not George W.
Lost Voices – Why the deaths of Yance T. Gray and Omar Mora are particularly galling.
By Fred Kaplan in SLATE
On Monday, while Gen. David Petraeus prepared to testify before two House committees about the successes of the surge, seven of his soldiers died when their transport vehicle overturned in a highway accident west of Baghdad.
Two of those soldiers, Staff Sgt. Yance T. Gray, 26, and Sgt. Omar Mora, 28, were part of another group of seven—the seven noncommissioned officers of the 82nd Airborne Division who wrote a brave, well-reasoned op-ed in the Aug. 19 New York Times, calling the prospect of victory “far-fetched” and appraisals of progress “surreal.”
One of the other NCOs, Staff Sgt. Jeremy A. Murphy, was shot in the head during a firefight before the op-ed piece was published. (Rushed to a military hospital, he is alive but recovering slowly.)
It is sad and appalling that nearly half of the authors of that op-ed are now casualties of the war that they publicly criticized but more than willingly continued to fight. (The last paragraph of their piece read: “We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.”) …
The Iraq war claims two soldiers who wrote a critical op-ed. – By Fred Kaplan – Slate Magazine
Leo just bought this camcorder.
Looks perfect to me. High definition and records to flash memory. Leo bought 4Gb SD cards.
Apple iLife ’08 supports the new AVCHD codec.
The HDC-SD5 uses the AVCHD format to record full-HD video with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. It employs Panasonic’s original 3CCD camera system, a professional broadcast feature, which renders vivid, true-to-life colors, outstanding detail and rich gradation. The SD5 also boasts Panasonic’s new Advanced O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer), minimizing the effect of hand shake. This technology helps produce crisp, clear images, which is especially important for viewing on large-screen high resolution TVs where image imperfections are easily visible.
The HDC-SD5, which records video onto SDHC/SD Memory Cards, debuts as the world’s smallest palm-style 3CCD full-HD camcorder.
Panasonic has another similar unit, but lighter, the HDC-SD7.
The main competitor is the Sony HDR-CX7 AVCHD, but it saves to “Memory Stick”. I prefer SD card.
If you have an opinion on Flash memory camcorders, leave a comment.
Thanks Dave Hayley.
I earlier posted my trip report with my own photos on our fantastic hike up North.
Then trip organizer Dave Hayley sent me a DVD with all photos from all 7 hikers.
……… what to do ………
View over 86 MORE photos from this trip on flickr. (Click SLIDESHOW.)
In this year’s competition, seventeen winning images were selected from over 2100 submitted by photographers in 27 countries.
Get Outdoors – 2007 Banff Mountain Photo Competition Winners – Getoutdoors.com Outdoor Blog
“Over several past trips to Denali National Park, Alaska, I have witnessed several predator-prey interactions. On this day, I came upon a pack of wolves that had brought down a caribou bull during the night. In the early-morning hours, a grizzly sow and two cubs took over, basically camping out on the kill for about 24 hours, consuming all but the head and antlers. Just as their feeding frenzy was about to end, I looked down the river bar and spotted a very large solo bear coming towards the kill. Taking notice, the sow proceeded to pick up the head and began shaking it violently from side to side in what I assumed was a display for the approaching bear.
All winning photos are posted on the 2007 Banff Mountain Photo page.
For those of you spending 25hrs a day raising and paying for raising children. And in tribute to the new Kalyan kid — is that #9 ?? — a look at the comic result of sex.
On this page you will see various children photography, collected from our readers and from the web, plus a few parenting predicaments that can be considered funny…
Fantastic photo by Patrick Taschler.
Volcano Tungurahua erupted spectacularly last year. … molten rock so hot it glows visibly pours down the sides of the 5,000-meter high Tungurahua, while a cloud of dark ash is seen being ejected toward the left. Wispy white clouds flow around the lava-lit peak, while a star-lit sky shines in the distance. The above image was captured last year as ash fell around the adventurous photographer. Located in Ecuador, Tungurahua has become active roughly every 90 years since for the last 1,300 years. Volcano Tungurahua has started erupting again this year and continues erupting at a lower level even today.
Tungurahua Erupts
Thanks George.
Rick McCharles 
