This is not only a very interesting use of crowdsourcing, but a smart way of encouraging it. How do they do that?

‘The “blind astrometry server” is a program which monitors the Astrometry group on Flickr, looking for new photos of the night sky. It then analyzes each photo, and from the unique star positions shown it figures out what part of the sky was photographed and what interesting planets, galaxies or nebulae are contained within. Not only does the photographer get a high-quality description of what’s in their photo, but the main Astrometry.net project gets a new image to add to its storehouse of knowledge.’

For more on this story, see the blog Code (a Flickr Developer Blog)

P.S. Credit to Tim O’Reilly (@timoreilly) on twitter for pointing this out. As he said: Amazingly cool use of Flickr API

Ok, you can’t download your own wine, but what if, like open source software, you want to gain a better understanding of what you are using/drinking and even participate in the production of it? Well you can. Ryan O’Connell, who I have blogged about before, has a smart posting on how Master Grape is applying open source ideas to wine making: Free Culture Movement – Open Source Wine? « Make Your Own Wine.

In some ways, it is not all that different from farming cooperatives we have in North American, whereby people pay a fee in exchange for a piece of farm land where they grow and harvest their own vegetables. Except instead of harvesting beans or carrots, you’ll end up harvesting grapes and making wine! And like people who grow their own, you’ll learn alot about the process, have fun, and end up with a better product (I believe) than if you just buy it at the store.

Check out the blog and the rest of the Master Grape site. I haven’t done this yet, but I aspire to some day.

Now this is depressing. Apparently Stock Decline Have Hit Depression Levels according to BusinessWeek.com. They say:

During the darkest 10 years of the Great Depression, from September 1929 to September 1939, the stock market dropped roughly 50%, adjusted for inflation. With today’s drop in the stock market, the U.S. has now matched that unfortunate milestone. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, adjusted for inflation, is now down about 50% over the past 10 years from Feb. 17, 1999 to Feb. 17, 2009.

Plus, if you also have equity in your house, you likely have lost money there, too.

Remind me again why I am working and socking money away?

Possibly. Off his bang-on analysis of the recent U.S. elections, Nate Silver now Predicts the Winners of the 2009 Oscars in New York Magazine.

Like alot of people, I think Nate is not only a smart guy, but a top notch analyst. So whether or not he has jumped the shark will be determined after Oscar night. Time, indeed, will tell.

Lately, on the political blogs I read, the talk is thick with whether or not banks in the U.S. should be nationalized. Frankly, I thought it might not amount to much more than that: talk. However, according to, FT.com, now Alan Greenspan backs bank nationalisation.

If Greenspan thinks it needs to be done, that changes the nature of the discussion and indicates to me that the likelihood of it happening is much higher.

We are in the midst of revolutionary times. That doesn’t mean revolutions will occur – witness 1848 – but big changes will occur now or in the years soon to come.

(Flickr photo of Karl Marx from benleto’s photostream)

Hey, if Jason from Friday the 13th can make a comeback, so can Karl.

To lead off this cover, the band starts off by saying why they’re doing this. It’s simple:

“We can just do it better than Britney.”

They are not kidding! Not only do they do a great job musically, but these guys are so smart in the way they interpret this song…well, just see for yourself. And just when the song starts to get repetitive towards the end, they take it somewhere different. Like I said: smart.

Pwn? See here. 🙂

Over at the Moment Blog on NYTimes.com is Georgio Armani doing a stint at guest blogging. Like all famous people, it is difficult to know how much of it is his writing and how much of it is his staff. It does feel like a blog entry he might make. It has lots of small details that make for a fun read, including his mild rebukes of Americans for overdoing their pasta and dressing rather poorly in night clubs.

One pair of lines made me laugh. He says:

“I have an apartment on Central Park West, which makes me feel like a real New Yorker. It’s a penthouse with terraces all around.”

Yep, lots of New Yorkers have that! Still, he comes across well, and if you love fashion, it is worth checking out.

From the brilliant blog, Indexed, by Jessica Hagy.

Rats, often seen as a scourge on mankind, are being shown to be a benefit too. Besides being trained to find land mines, giant rats are being used to sniff out TB victims (Telegraph). It’s a brilliant idea. Actually, both of them are.

This reminds me of Joshua Klein’s talk at the TED conference about the amazing intelligence of crows. He brings up the idea that instead of trying to wipe out creatures that we consider parasites or vermin, we should be trying to learn more about them and work with them for our mutual benefit.

It looks like a number of smart people in Africa are already doing this. I think the rest of the world needs to look at our populations of rats, roaches, crows, squirrels, raccoons, pigeons….you name it…and get more creative on how we can live together.

Both the Telegraph article and the Klein talk are well worth while.

(This rat in a flickr photo from gilbrit’s photostream is smart enough to debug software. 🙂 Ok, maybe not. Good photo, though.)

With all the gloom and doom around publishing, it is easy to think that by sometime soon, there will be scarcely any magazines on the stands, never mind new ones. However, if anyone can figure out how to make a go of it in the new world of publishing, I would bet on Conde Nast. And they don’t seem to have given up, as this article in the Telegraph highlights, with their new magazine, Love.

The article has lots of detail behind the new publication. It could be a good one, and a good trend.

I quite like this song and this video. I think it is inventive, unusual, appealling pop music. If I found it on an indie site and it was attributed to an unknown artist, I would be quite taken by it. Perhaps you would too.

However, it is by anything but an unknown artist. It’s by Paul McCartney, one of the greatest names in pop music. And that affects the way I see the video and listen to the music. More than it should. The Beatles were right to sing “Boy you’re going to carry that weight along time”. In some ways the legacy of the Beatles is a huge weight, both for him and his listeners who loved the Beatles. From time to time we both deserve to put that weight aside and listen to the newer stuff. If you haven’t listened to him in awhile, try this.

As we can see, it is already started, with at at least 10 Ways Microsoft’s Retail Stores Will Differ From Apple Stores in PC World‘s blog section.

Thanks to Stephen Fry (@stephenfry on twitter) for the link. Artwork is Chip Taylor’s.

You likely have seen this video (Coldplay’s Viva La Vida), but have you seen the guy pop up at 3:23? Is that a mistake? Maybe it was the same guy Christian Bale cursed out? 🙂 See for yourself. The video has high production values, but this seems odd at best.

Are the famous people who appear to be on Twitter the actual people, or merely imposters? Sometimes it is hard to tell. For example, there is  a John Cleese (@JohnCleese) on twitter, but is it him? See for yourself.

(Not sure where he is, but with lemons outside his window, it’s not likely England. 🙂 )

While it is wise to temper one’s optimism when it comes to this country, the fact that Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as Zimbabwe PM is cause for some optimism. Indeed, if there ever there was a time to be cautiously optimistic, this is it. Whether it is inflation, cholera, or food shortages (to name just some problems), the people of Zimbabwe deserve better. Here’s hoping they get it very soon.

This ad for INFRACTURCTURE JOBS was on twitpic. Not sure I trust infrastructure from a company that can’t spell the word.

Easy. Go to Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools blog and read more about The Tiny Book of Tiny Houses. Even better, they have the plans for G.B. Shaw’s writing hut (which I have also blogged about). How perfect is that? You may not be able to construct Whistler’s Peacock room, but with some effort, you could have Shaw’s shed. And that ain’t half bad.

See Kevin Kelly for more details.

Over at Timothy Paul Moore’s web site, Letter to Jane, is a strikingly good collection of recent photos he has taken. There is slightly more than a dozen, but they are very versatile and recall to me the qualities of Atget, Christopher Pratt and Gerhard Richter.

Think I am exaggerating? Go see Tim’s photos. Then go look at Atget’s Versailles photographs, Pratt’s “bridge” prints, or the quasi-abstract work of Richter.

Good stuff…..

I didnt realize that one of my favourite painters did one with Toronto as a subject. But here it is. Nice.

For lots of work on Richter, go here: Gerhard Richter » Art » Overpainted Photographs » Untitled (Toronto) and then search around.

After see the Dalai Lama was using twitter, I thought that I had to follow him (or his representatives). I was a bit surprised to get this in my inbox today:

Dalai Lama is now following you on Twitter! – Inbox – Yahoo! Mail

Hi, Bernie Michalik (blm849).

Dalai Lama (OHHDL) is now following your updates on Twitter.

Check out Dalai Lama’s profile here:
http://twitter.com/OHHDL

Best,
Twitter

I mean, it’s great that Barack Obama is following me on twitter, but this is taking it up a level. 🙂

You might think I am talking about what he saying about opponents to the Stimulus Bill. But no! (Ok, maybe, but not that I know of.) What I do know is that April Winchell has nicely found audioclips of Barack Obama reading Dreams From My Father in which he is quoting expressions from his friend Ray, who apparently spoke less than presidentially.

As someone said, he is no Samuel L Jackson when it comes to the effective use of swear words, but he does a pretty good job. See Barack Obama is tired of your …. for the details.

Needless to say, it is VERY NSFW.

Thanks to Adam Schwabe for twittering about it. And thanks to April for posting it.

I have been using blip.fm recently, and it seems as a result I have uncovered an interesting phenomena. As I was using blip.fm, I received tweets from StrongDoctor, MeteorSlim, BlueWild, and BansheeBarnacle. I checked them out, but there is not much to tell about them. They have little or no profile information. Their picture is not of them. But what is interesting is that they have a lot in common with their tweets.

Of the few tweets that they have made, they have said:

• facebook is so addicting…its like crack
• shaq rocks
• someone once said that facebook is for people you use to know, twitter is for people you want to know
• And they like Family Guy

Odd. And pointless, since I don’t follow people who don’t identify themselves in their profiles. Perhaps it is some troll. Or an odd promotion. If anyone has an idea, let me know.

With the current economic downturn, most businesses are suffering, and luxury goods and many high end restaurants are on the top of the list. This is bad news for them, but good news for you, the customer. And great news for anyone who lives in New York or is visiting there and wants to experience the best the city has to offer in terms of food. Not only are the prices great and the tables free, but as this article at Critic’s Notebook says: Recession Makes Restaurants Eager to Serve You.

Eat like royalty and be treated like it as well. Sounds like a great deal.

Amazon.com is offering Free – that’s right, free!- songs from oldies like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark to newer tunes from The Shanghai Restoration Project. Lots and lots of songs. You have to be American, alas, to get them (even though they are free).

Free is good.

I am delighted to report that there is a new version of the Nigerian spam you may have been used to getting. Over the last few years I have been getting more or less the same email promising riches somehow associated with Nigeria. It was getting stale. However, it looks like a new version is out, and I am including it here, in case you haven’t seen it already. (No doubt you eventually will).

I think there are so many good touches. I mean, how many times do you get an email with the word august in it? And I think the name David Fidelity is a rather good one. But rather than reveal all the good parts, here it is in its entirety:

I write this august letter in confidence, believing that it will reach you in high spirit and I believe you will maintain the level of confidence and trust matters of this nature requires. Though, I know that this proposal may make you apprehensive and worried, but I assure you that all will be well at the end.

Before proceeding, I wish to introduce myself I am David Fidelity, a solicitor at law. I got your contact from a
business text book from reliable fellow working with the Nigerian Chamber Of Commerce and Industries.Opportunity comes in life only when nature wishes that the wind will blow towards you but that does not mean you are the only person on earth. I want to believe you have been praying for sometime now, for divine blessing so that you can take good care of your family, but how would you know when one comes your way?

Now i put it to you that the opportunity you have been seeking for has come your way but the question you must answer now is” ARE YOU READY TO GRAB THE OPPORTUNITY”? It is an opportunity that does not mean you will not work to grab it. You are born as an adventurer and pathfinder to success, therefore you are subjected by the Supreme powers of nature to find your way either to success or failure but i must tell you in confidence that if you will hold fast to what you are about to hear
from me, then we shall reap from the land of milk and honey and all your difficult days will be over.

Before i proceed in details, i demand that you in confidence assure me that you will comply to the rules and regulation of this business. The rules are as follows: Promise to be faithful. Promise to be sincere, Promise to be your brother’s Keeper, Promise that you will assist morally, spiritually and financially to your own ability.If you are in compliance to this conditions, then i have no option than to tell you the full details of the business. The story and the business in full.

I am the personal attorney / sole executor to the late Mr Norbert , hereinafter referred to as ‘my client’ who worked as an independent oil magnate in my country. and who died in a car crash with his immediate family on the 4th of oct,2005. Since the death of my client in oct,2005, I have written several letters to the embassy with an intent to locate any of his extended relatives whom shall be claimants/beneficiaries of his abandoned personal estate and all such efforts have been to no avail.

Moreso,I have received official letters in the last few weeks suggesting a likely proceeding for confiscation of his abandoned personal assets in line with existing laws by the bank in which my client deposited the sum of 15 million USD On this note i decided to search for a credible person and finding that you bear a similar last name, I decided to contact you, that I may,with your consent, present you to the “trustee” bank as my late client’s surviving family member so as to enable you put up a claim to the bank in that capacity as a next of kin of my client.

I find this possible for the fuller reasons that you bear a similar last name with my client making it a lot easier for you to put up a claim in that capacity.I propose that 45% of the net sum will accrue to you at the conclusion of this deal in so far as I do not incur further expenses. Therefore, to facilitate the immediate transfer of this fund, you need, first to contact me via signifying your interest and as soon as I obtain your confidence,I will immediately appraise you with the complete details as well as fax you the documents, with which you are to proceed and i shall direct on how to put up an application to the bank.

HOWEVER, you will have to assent to an express agreement which I will forward to you in order to bind us in this transaction. Upon the reciept of your reply,I will send you by fax or E-mail the next step to take.I will not fail to bring to your notice that this proposal is hitch-free and that you should not entertain any fears as the required arrangements have been made for the completion of this transfer. Like I have implied, I require only a solemn confidentiality on this.

For us to proceed, if you are truly moved by the spirit, then forward the following information:

1) Your full name
2) Postal Address
3) Receiving bank Information
4) Private cell number / telephone / fax and company name if any:

The required information shall be use in the procurement of all documents relating to this transfer and it shall be in your name as the beneficiary and administrator.

Your ability to keep this transaction absolutely confidential will be much appreciated. Please, confirm your willingness by promising that you will keep to the rules and regulation and your effort will never be divided both financially and otherwise.

Thank you in anticipation.

I look forward to receiving your compliance and we swing into action. Call me on +234 80-36599857 for moral and important discussion .

Yours truly,

David Fidelity

Needless to say, when you do get this email, add it to your spam list.

Did you know Starbucks is all about dating? Neither did I. 🙂

See, I use Facebook. And I go to Starbucks often. Awhile ago I signed up for a Facebook app related to Starbucks. The other day I was informed of the following:

Thanks for using My Starbucks. We are excited to announce that, as of next week, My Starbucks’s name and functionality will be changed to SpeedDate. Data entered into the original app won’t be used anymore. Soon you’ll be able to try SpeedDate, the fastest way to meet new people, so stay tuned!

Thanks,
My Starbucks

It’s for reasons like this that I have trimmed down the use of Facebook applications to 0

…and yet…well, read the charges! I mean, read this article: Free Monty Python Videos on Youtube Lead to 23,000% DVD Sale Increase | /Film

And for people who may — or may not — understand my references, there is THIS!

Thanks to Tim O’Reilly — via twitter, no less — for the pointer.

According to this article, The 25 Most Influential Liberals In The U.S. Media – Forbes.com

“Broadly, a “liberal’ subscribes to some or all of the following: progressive income taxation; universal health care of some kind; opposition to the war in Iraq, and a certain queasiness about the war on terror; an instinctive preference for international diplomacy; the right to gay marriage; a woman’s right to an abortion; environmentalism in some Kyoto Protocol-friendly form; and a rejection of the McCain-Palin ticket.”

I think you would be hard pressed to find one Canadian who did not possess these qualities.

This will not go down well with the Tories. 🙂

…by coming out with two new dolls named after them. Sad. Apparently Michelle Obama is not happy about it. I wouldn’t blame her. I think it’s inappropriate and I would avoid buying toys from Ty unless I hear it’s been resolved.

As mobile phones combined with Internet services gain more and more capability, the era of ubiquitous computing will begin, whereby everyone in the world will be able to digitally interconnect. One more step along that path is occurring with the announcement of Google’s SMS Search in Ghana and Nigeria (as reported on the great blog, White African).

The device most of the world will connect to the Internet with will not be a Mac or an PC: it will be a low cost mobile phone/handheld device. Companies like Google will supply everything else. And it will happen very soon.

Over at TPMMuckraker, part of Talking Points Memo, they have John Thain’s Top Ten Greatest Moments. And by great, they mean just the opposite. There’s outrageous expenses, trashing of furniture, and those are the minor items. At best, you’ll be shaking your head. More likely you’ll be thinking: this guy ought to go to jail.

I am a fan of tumblr.com. And I admire how Barack Obama and his team capitalize on good technologies for their benefit. So it comes as no surprise that his team used tumblr as a blog — actually, tumble log — for the The Inauguration.

As is typical of the Obama tech team, they have taken tumblr, which is really good technology, and made it look even better! Click on the link above and see.

Only in France, I think. Then again, this was reported in an English daily, so perhaps they tweak the story a little. 🙂 For the details, see here.

This is something the new Obama administration should look into right away. While American taxpayers were shelling out billions in bailout money to firms like Merrill Lynch, the head of Merrill was paying billions in bonus to employees in bonuses. Ahead of time

It’s bad enough that the bonuses were given out. But that they were given out early and at the time they were given out really stinks.

Bank of America now owns Merrill Lynch. They should go after that money. And if won’t, the Treasury Department should. Or simply consider John Thain, the former head of Merrill Lynch, a thief and prosecute him. It’s good he was fired. But that’s not enough.

This video by Sarah Harmer reminds me of music from the 1930s (and/or from the soundtrack to “O Brother, Where Art Thou” 🙂 ). It is a beautiful song, wonderfully performed by Sarah Harmer and her band. It is a lovely video, too. But don’t take my word for it. Watch:

I took a snapshot of whitehouse.gov before Obama was sworn in and just after it was changed.

You can see the differences here: http://drop.io/whitehouseGovBandA

Needless to say, there are big differences.

Obama is going to bring alot of changes to the White House. As an IT person, it is pleasing to think that one of the first ones is an IT change. 🙂

…follow CanMediaLayoffs on twitter.  It can make for some grim reading. Perhaps there is good news in the publishing industry somewhere in Canada. If so, it is a silver lining in what looks like a very big raincloud.

I think this is brilliant. While people can argue over the taste of the source of water, the quality of it is something else. And everything I read about purified NYC water is that it is high quality indeed. Check out Tap’dNY – Purified New York City tap water.

Not to pick on Fiji (too much), but there is even a taste test that shows it is better.

Not only do they have great water, but they have a great web site too (and a tumblelog, no less.)