At work I'm tasked with greening my company's IT footprint by implementing next generation technologies such as geothermal cooling for power hungry data centers and virtualization to increase power efficiency.  In my home, however, I have my hands tied, unable to make capital improvements since I'm not the owner.  My roommates and I have done all the conservation basics: replacing light bulbs with LEDs, eliminating chemicals, recycling, etc... but that falls short of the improvements I would like to make.  Solar panels on the roof top my to-do list, but the high cost of installation makes the payback period beyond the reach of renters.  It's not like you can just run over to Home Depot and buy a solar panel kit that will power your home.  Well, maybe not solar, but wind power?

Over the weekend I learned that home wind power for the masses is a reality!  Lowes sells a $600 carbon fiber wind power turbine kit that is easy to install and generates up to 400-watts.  I'm going to run some tests to see what the average wind speed on the roof is and figure out the efficiency rating.  If we can get 80% efficiency out of the turbine, we could conceivably run all of our home electronics off the grid!

Hot Chip follows up the excellent One Life Stand video with this bizarre make-over of their nerdy image for the single to I Feel Better.

Hot Chip - I Feel Better

Hot Chip | MySpace Music Videos
Brilliant!

The internets are exploding with brand new music this week from SXSW, so I wanted to write about some music 2.0 sites that will help you discover new tunes.  What if tweets were sounds instead of characters?  That's the idea behind citysounds.fm.  You can use the site to listen to brand new sounds from all over the world.  The music is hosted on the tremendous Soundcloud.com, which you should definitely check out if you haven't already.  I could spend hours on there...

If you surf the web today, you'll see lot's of references to 3.14. Google's homepage has a nifty logo:

Around Princeton there are lots of events to celebrate Pi day, which is also Albert Einstein's birthday! Stop by Palmer Square at 3:14 today and you might get a pie thrown at you! Or if you would rather do something less messy, visit the Trenton Sculpture Grounds and wander through interactive art which includes a stone Pi.

This is a brilliant idea: a music video for a mixtape! Amsterdam's Girls Love DJs. At their seven year aniversary, GLDJs released a double mix album, mixed by resident DJ’s The Flexican, Rubywax & Missing Links.

Here's the tracklist from the mixtape:

1. Bobby Caldwell - My Flame
2. The Roots - What They Do
3. Debarge - I Like It
4. Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians - What I Am
5. Nostalgia 77 - Seven Nation Army
6. Ben Westbeech - Get Closer
7. Real El Canario - Ven Pa Mi Casa
8. Flinke Namen - Als Zijn Langsloopt
9. Simian Mobile Disco - I Believe
10. Dee Edwards - Why Can't There Be Love
11. Willie Colon & Ruben Blades - Plastico
12. Mr. Oizo Ft. Carmen Castro - Two Takes It
13. Willie Hutch - Tell Me Why Has Our Love Turned Cold
14. Sugababes - Overload
15. Mocky - Mickey Mouse Muthafuckas
16. Demon Vs Heartbreaker - You Are My High



Disc 2
1. Armand Van Helden - 6 Minutes Of Funk
2. Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better
3. Mike Dunn - Phreaky Mf
4. Cagedbaby - Disco Biscuit (Seymour Bits Dub Remix)
5. Jesse Rose - A Sided
6. Crystal Waters - 100% Pure Love
7. Martin Brothers - Stoopid
8. Tom Trago - Voyage Direct
9. Harvey Mason - Groovin You
10. C-Mon & Kypski - Shitty Bum
11. Fast Eddy - Yo Yo Get Funky
12. Rubix - Baiser Sur Le Disco
13. Herve - I Can Get Down
14. Freak Power - Turn On, Tune In, Cop Out
15. Oxia - Domino
16. Lele - Breakfast ( Mercury Remix)
17. Ron Carrol - Bump To Dis (Bart B More & Bingo Players Mix)
18. Elektronauts - Bumper (Plump Dj's Remix)
19. Aquasky - Have A Good Time
20. Cornelius Brothers - Treat Her Like A Lady
21. Nuyorican Soul - It's Allright, I Feel It (M.A.W. 12" Mix)
22. Foundations - Build Me Up Buttercup
23. Outkast - Spottieottiedopaliscious
24. The Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band - P.I.M.P.

The Oscars are tonight.  Check off your picks on this handy google doc template.  If the most deserving film wins best picture, it will be the Hurt Locker.

Over the weekend, I had a blast sharing the 1s and 2s at Madison house with The Architect, aka Josh Vanderveen. Josh brought over dual CDJ's that we connected to my mixer, turntable and laptop for a killer setup. We dusted off some classic rock vinyl and funk before throwing down uptempo and dubstep. Though it wasn't a packed crowd (note to self, need to promote my own gigs better!), we got the dance floor jumping at midnight with some Bassnectar, Basement Jaxx, and Girl Talk tracks. Mad props and thanks to the party hosts and to The Architect for lending his awesome skills!

Here's a fun mix I made, inspired by a delicious grilled salmon dish that took a detour from my belly and ended up being devoured by my cat.

Salmon For Lunch by Djspe on Mixcloud

Enjoy. As always your comments are appreciated!