Wired puts together an interactive Google map that shows World Oil Reserves by country as of Jan. 1, 2007, with info about 10 of the world’s largest oil fields. Number 1 on the list is Saudi Arabia with 262.3 billion barrels, followed by Canada with 179.2 billion barrels. Iran and Iraq fill out the top 4.
Archive for May, 2008 Page 2 of 4
This is something you don’t want to happen often. Luckily it happened backing out of the driveway, instead of on the 401.
Tag Galaxy provides a visually interesting way to view and search flickr photos. Typing in a term creates a planet with similar search terms as other planets near by. Clicking on another planet begins the process of narrowing your search down. It’s a pretty cool way to search flickr. [via mashable]
The roof top garden of the Robertson Building.
I had the opportunity to take advantage of the Doors Open Toronto event this past weekend. The concept of the event is simple: hundreds of buildings open their doors for visitors. The buildings tend to be ones that the public can’t normally visit, and gives a unique look at the history of Toronto. I only made two stops this year, but just walking around Toronto on a beautiful day is enjoyment in itself.
The first two photos were taken from the 17th floor of the Canada Life building located at Queen St. and University Ave. The first is looking east toward City Hall, while the second is looking west. I like the contrast of the two views: one being concrete and skyscrapers, while the latter is surprisingly green.
The second stop was the Robertson Building on Spadina. I had no idea what the building was, but as I was walking by I saw the ‘Doors Open’ sign and figured why not. They had on offer a roof top garden that was more like a roof top lawn in need of some mowing. The views on offer were again interesting because it’s a view of the city I don’t usually get.
Doors Open Toronto, it’s a great weekend.
Despite all our technological advancements as a species, we still know very little about the other creatures that we share the planet Earth with. Arizona State Universities International Institute for Species Exploration has recently published a list of their top 10 newly discovered species. Most of the additions are new genus and species (a different type of frog or jelly fish) but none-the-less still fascinating. The list includes images of the creatures along with a short description.
A study will appear in the June issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology reporting that many college students drink to excess on their 21st birthdays and potentially jeopardize their health. 34% of men and 24% of women reported consuming 21 drinks or more on their 21st birthday. The maximum for women was about 30 drinks, while the maximum for men was about 50 drinks. I smell a bit of embellishment, but concede that even if those numbers are cut in half it’s a heck of a lot of alcohol for one sitting. Drinking is a heavily ingrained social norm in North America, and up to this point I don’t know what affect education has had on the general public. People tend to cut back when they get older, but the problem is that a handful of 21-year-olds aren’t making it to that age.
New Scientist reports that in spite of court rulings that creationism and intelligent design are religion, not science, and have no place in school science classrooms, 16% of US science teachers continue to teach it as valid science. One explanation for the results is explained as teachers not having taken evolutionary biology courses, and thus not being comfortable teaching the material.
Julius Eckert has some Some slick looking Quicksilver interfaces along with some interesting projects that utilize the webcam of the Mac for tracking items on-screen. It is similar to what is being done with the Wii remote, but just uses light sources and a webcam. I’m now running the Bezel HUD interface, sure it’s just eye candy, but it’s eye candy that doesn’t suck system resources.
Gizmodo has linked to, and commented on, a pretty bizarre story from the Globe and Mail. A 23-year old was walking to his mailbox in BC, with his headphones on, when he got hit by a helicopter. The news article discuses the dangers of wearing headphones while in public. Gizmodo points out the fact that he was hit by a freaking helicopter.
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