I've blogged about this before but I feel compelled to mention again: recent policy decisions threaten to kill internet radio. This policy will go into effect in two weeks:

This decision has the very real potential to force the closure of a wide realm of online webcasting sources that have significantly impacted the growth and development of independent music across all genres.

Sadly on May 15th we may once again lose what took us so many years to rediscover and recreate - a vital, thriving independent music scene that places value on creativity, innovativeness and originality.

-from savenetradio.org's blog
There's an excellent post over at BoingBoing that covers the whole issue.
And head over to savenetradio.org to find out how you can help.

As a techies, we firmly believe that technology holds the key to solving most big societal problems like energy consumption and pollution. Yet while this notion is close to our hearts, we look for answers using tech tools that require constant energy. Most computer users I know keep their pcs on 24/7. When I worked in corporate IT, my company had a significant budget line item on the expense sheet for something called KTLO -- Keep The Lights On. So we use a heck of a lot of energy, but there's good news. We've figured out ways to reduce energy requirements of chips in half, switched to LCDs which use FAR less power than CRTs, and lined our offices with efficient fluorescent bulbs. And there's more good news around the corner. High emitting LEDs can throw vast amounts of light using very little power. Laptops are replacing desktops as the pc of choice, which are also far more efficient. However one of the greatest power saving features of pcs is vastly underutilized: the s3 power state.
You can save over $30 a month in energy bills simply by making a few registry hacks and letting your machine power down. In the past, Windows had problems waking up properly and responding to network requests in a low power state, but today things are much better. I urge everyone to give this a shot, it will save you money and best of all helps reduce wasteful energy consumption.
Click Here for Details on Setting Up S3 Power State

This is an incredible presentation by a Swedish professor who uses interactive graphics to reveal interesting facts about the world. Here's a link to one of the google tools that he used in the presentation: gapminder.

Remember those mouse trap contraptions that would take a series of bizarre mechanical steps to perform an utterly simple function -- did you know that is called a Rube Goldberg machine?


A design firm called Baynham & Tyers created an incredible Rube Goldberg device as a viral marketing campaign. I've never seen this approach the self-marketing before, but after watching the video, you know these guys are very creative! Watch the video here.

What do people hate most on the web?
Cameron finds the answer by using google's search ranking to locate pages built around things that people hate.
Check out his findings here, or run the search yourself.
You may notice that when you run the search, you'll find a lot of things that you actually like, or at least have an interest in. This could explain why I saw "I hate Philosophy" near the top of my search results. Or could it be that there are other weathered souls who find asking the big questions like peeking into Pandora's box. Reading this gent's blog, his reasoning resonated with me. Many of us begin the pursuit of knowledge as a way to satisfy curiosity about how others think, but too often succumb to the pitfalls of academia. Joel writes:

In sum, philosophy is an obscured, confusing search for transcendence that, by its very nature, precludes the possibility of ever finding transcendece because of the way it numbs the soul, suppresses pain, and prevents the risky intimacy that is required to find transcendence.

While I commiserate with the seeming futility of the search, I reject his conclusion. I find great comfort and curiosity in the abstractions of thought sprinkled everywhere. For example, today I encounter philosophy more in books, music, and film than "philosophical papers." And I've learned more talking to a stranger than reading an atlas on Kierkegard's angst. Sometimes the most interesting insights on life are simply an unspoken gestures like a smile or a sigh.

Deal of the Day: "Google.com - in-home wireless broadband Internet service for free
This is a great deal. Using their technology of fiber cable strung through municipal lines, you get free broadband Internet service through your home, called Google TiSP. They offer several levels of service, the free service gives up to 8 Mb download and 2 Mb upload. Most reviewers say the service is fairly easy to install, using very reliable fiber optic lines for a consistent data flow with minimal latency, without interfering with the flow of non-electronic data through the pipes. Only a limited number of signups will be accepted. They provide no guarantee in quality of service for the free service and can only be used in homes with compatible pipes, but since it seems like a great deal for the price. Other restrictions apply, so be sure to read the terms before signing up. To sign up, click the 'Google' logo at the bottom of this page. A lot of people are signing up right now, so if it gives an error, be sure to read the error carefully before trying again."

Hat-Tip to Hotdlz

During the Motorola International Strategy Competition, I discovered a new GTD tool called Jott. While the competing teams were planning the future of web 2.0 services, social networking, p2p content management, and capturing value in the Long Tail, I realized that a lot of these ideas are here today. The Jott service is simple email anywhere application. Jut sign up for Jott, then add a toll free number to your cellphone's speed dial. Whenever you want to send yourself a message, call up the number and dictate a thought. Jott will transcribe the message it and send it you in an email, along with a link to the recorded message. You can also use Jott to send dictated email's to your friends. In addition, you can easily import your address book from gmail, outlook, yahoo, etc. and you can now "jott" to your contacts.
I setup one of my contacts by enabling the blog via email function on blogger, so now I can literally phone in blogs with my cell phone. Now that's seamless mobility. Oh did I mention this is a free service?

I recently added Jott to my GTD workflow. It's a painless way to get to-do items or notes into your GTD inbox. Here is a great guide in how to get the most from JOTT and GMAIL by another GTDer.