Clipmarks | urbanlife's Comments

Colourful Caterpillars - 24 of nature's most beautiful!

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:39:57 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

These voracious leave eaters whose movements are graceful and fluid have six times as many muscles as a human and can be very harmful to humans. Some color inspiration is harmless, so here are 24 caterpillar inspired palettes.

Caterpillar hair has been known to be a cause of human health problems. Caterpillar hairs sometimes have venoms in them and species from approximately 12 families of moths or butterflies worldwide can inflict serious human injuries

Public Participation GIS

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:09:11 GMT

clipped by: rachaelkeriwilliams
clipper's remarks: This approach to development of the city and surrounding areas is exactly what we need. The people must be empowered with the information that is typically held by the government, development organizations, and those with developed computer skills and high-speed internet access. PPGIS will facilitate the participation of marginalized members of society in the creation of the ecocity. It can be integrated with accessibility software and accessed from libraries, computing centers, and other designated points in the neighborhood, and should be integrated with a user-friendly interface —such as google maps, rather than the more technologically and geographically -oriented interface employed in typical online GIS sites.

Clip Source: www.iapad.org

by Doug Aberley and Renee Sieber

Public Participation GIS …

Is an interdisciplinary research, community development and environmental stewardship tool grounded in value and ethical frameworks that promote social justice, ecological sustainability, improvement of quality of life, redistributive justice, nurturing of civil society, etc;

Enables public access to cultural, economic and biophysical data generated by governments, private sector organizations and academic institutions;

Is about sharing the challenges and opportunities of place and situation in a transparent and celebratory manner.

Is best applied via partnerships developed between individuals, communities, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, religious or faith-based institutions, governments and the private sector;
Endeavors to always include a strong capacity building dimension in its application;

Tags: gis, participatory development, ppgis, development, empower, marginalized groups, technology, internet, opensource, mapping

Back to School - A Green Guide

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:08:05 GMT

clipped by: egsnyder

Clip Source: www.squidoo.com

Green Guide to Back-to-School

The Rule of Three

Building a Conscious Wardrobe

Kids outgrow clothes quickly, but here is a lifelong habit that you can instill that they'll never outgrow - and it has a positive impact on the environment! It's the Rule of Three.

Only buy an item of clothing if it matches THREE things in your wardrobe.

School Supplies**

1. Printed paper

Notebooks

Green Stationary Stores

Great Stuff on Amazon

Green School Resources

Waste-Free Lunch

Green Water Bottles

Getting to School

Backpacks

Tags: green, back to school, shopping, school supplies

US to Finance and Build Large Airport Near Iran

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:42:50 GMT

clipped by: sahara

Clip Source: blog.puppetgov.com

Puppetgov: So let’s have our hard earned taxes go to something like this instead of helping fellow Americans or our crumbling infrastructure. (see story following this one) Had Enough?

The Kurdistan Regional Government has allocated 1,500 acres of land near Iran’s border for the construction of a large US-financed airport.

The airport is to be built in a town called Halabja situated about 11 kilometers from the Iranian border in the northern Iraqi province of Sulaimaniyah, our Press TV correspondent reported from Irbil on Monday.

This is while most political analysts and economists believe that the location is unsuitable, because a small town like Halabja does not need such a large airport, particularly one so close to the border.

“The airport is very large and Halabja is a small town. It doesn’t need to build a big airport like this in an area that is near the border,” Abdulkhaliq told Press TV.

constructing an airport near the border ‘raises doubts in people’s minds’.

Treetop restaurant (pics)

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:36:16 GMT

clipped by: queerty
clipper's remarks: Very cool!

Clip Source: www.weirdasianews.com

It is every kid’s dream to one day make the coolest tree house and live in it. In Okinawa, Japan, that dream has become one person’s reality… except they made it a restaurant instead of a home.

Just north of the Okinawa airport on highway 58, the restaurant sits perfectly on top of a massive Gajumaru tree’s huge branches about 20 ft above the ground and looking out over the ocean.

The restaurant has a reputation of being quiet and elegant, while serving some of the best Japanese, Thai, Korean, Chinese and Indian food in all of Okinawa.

Customers have to climb a spiral stairway to get to the restaurant.

Chipmunk Tale - in pics

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:31:09 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Cute!

Clip Source: web.me.com

2008

Over the next hour, as I held him in my hand, he warmed up and started to move.

I smashed up some nuts and dried fruit from my trail mix, mixed it with water, and fed it to the eager baby with a syringe from my first aid kit.

Needing my hands free for the hike, I found the perfect spot for Chip ... I emptied the water from my Nalgene bottle, put the fleece hat in the bottom to make a nice bed, and snuggled him inside.

Back home, he gets his first real meal of chipmunk-appropriate formula.

In less than a week, his eyes are open!

As the days go by, he gets more and more mature.

Based on where I found him (approx. 6000 ft elevation in the Olympics), I’m guessing he’s an Olympic chipmunk (a subspecies of the yellow pine chipmunk (Tamias amoenus caurinus).

He loves pockets.

eating a variety of foods now, in addition to his formula. He’s also graduated to a bigger cage

A few weeks later .... it’s time to expand his cage.

This is a triple decker cage,

Tags: chipmunk, pictures, rescue

Gas Prices May Revive Cities

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:57:31 GMT

clipped by: egsnyder
clipper's remarks: Upside to high gas prices??? What do YOU think?

Clip Source: urbanenergy.blogspot.com

Urban Energy

Gas Prices May Revive Cities

Urban planners finally see a way to curb sprawl

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Andres Duany is thrilled by the prices he's seeing at the gas pump. The urban planner and high priest of the New Urbanism movement sees today's (and likely tomorrow's) gas prices accomplishing what he and others in his field have long sought: a wholesale re-creation of the American lifestyle. "The urbanism of the United States has been premised on two things," Duany says. "One is inexpensive land. And the other is inexpensive fuel. Both have led to sprawl."

Tags: urban planning, energy, gas prices, urban sprawl

Dean of USC Architecture School Rails Against Preservation

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:44:17 GMT

clipped by: presohio

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

A city built on impermanence -- and that's OK

'Most of them are so superbly ugly that they're exciting." That's what Qingyun Ma, dean of the architecture school at USC, told me last Tuesday afternoon when I asked him what he thought of this city's remarkable explosion of skyscrapers.

Ma sheds no tears for the quaint buildings that have given way to thousands of new structures -- and they aren't all ugly by any means. In fact, he barely conceals his disdain for architectural nostalgia. "The concept behind historic preservation is foolish," he said. "It assumes that there is infinite space for future generations. We have to allow people in the future to build their environments based on their own needs and intelligence."

It turns out that L.A.'s lack of historical sentimentality is one of the reasons Ma enjoys his adopted home. "L.A. is for the future," he said.

Tags: preservation, philosphy

The House That Always Faces The Sun

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:19:12 GMT

clipped by: tanjazaric

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

it’s surprising that there’s so little (english) information available about this house as it seems to be such a piece of engineering brilliance and a building which, when designed, was way ahead of its time. it was built and lived in by an italian ship engineer by the name of angelo invernizzi (along with assistance from architect ettore fagiuoli) between the years of 1929 & 1935 and can still be found in marcellise, italy.

the top half of the building rotates around the centre of the circluar track on which it rests (which happens to form the roof of the lower, static half of the building), much like the hands of a clock

the ‘tower’ which forms the pivot is 43 metres tall and the power needed to move the structure is generated by 2 motors (3 horsepower in total): a full revolution of the 1′500ton building would take just over 9hrs, travelling at a speed of 4mm per second, unless of course the rotation was delibrately slowed.

the house is called ‘il girasole’ - the sunflower

google maps

Tags: house, architecture, digital, italy

An End To Mountaintop Removal Mining?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:36:16 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: good news if they can beat the coal co's

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

ABINGDON, Va. - Mountaintop removal could be ended by as early as next year, said a leader in an environmental group working to halt the destructive mining practices.

“Now there is an increasingly powerful and vocal national movement to stop mountaintop removal,” said Matt Wasson, an ecologist and director of programs for Appalachian Voices. “I’m saying we’re going to have it stopped by the end of next year … the end of 2009.”

“Mountaintop removal” is, to some, a controversial term. It refers to the blasting away of mountain ridges to get to the coal underneath, a process that evolved with technological advancements over the decades from traditional contour mining.

What makes this type of mining cost-effective is a valley-fill permit, which allows the overburden - dirt and rock removed to expose the coal - to be dumped into adjacent valleys.

“Mountaintop removal mining is a national disgrace,” said Aaron Isherwood

“If the American people knew what was happening in Appalachia

our culture's proclivity to rip down our past, and pave over

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:39:31 GMT

clipped by: tidbit2

Clip Source: www.goodreads.com

Although this novel is written for children, I think it has great application for contemporary society and any age. Just a few days ago -- I learned that a historic area close by is going to be demolished, the red brick arches, the architecture of the past to be crumbled and soon taken away by trucks. Only too Be replaced with a strip mall with shops in chains and corporations that could be anywhere. It's frightening to think of our culture's proclivity to rip down our past, and pave over what is underneath .... whether it be just buildings or the wisdom of our elders....

35 Fantastic HDR Pictures

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:25:25 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: via Smashing Magazine

Clip Source: www.smashingmagazine.com

Tags: hdr

10 Beautiful Butterflies And Their Caterpillars

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:48:33 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Actually I did not think the offspring was ugly at all! Depends on each one's perspective I guess...?!

Clip Source: www.scienceray.com

10 Beautiful Butterflies and Their Ugly Duckling Offspring

nother opportunity to scratch your head at the vagaries of Mother Nature, take a look at this pictorial proof of butterfly beauty and caterpillar creepiness!

The Tiger Swallowtail

You can see the black “tiger” strips on the wing of the male

in the caterpillar stage of its life.

will appear to be a piece of bird dropping, which is nice. However, if you disturb it then it rears its head

The Common Nawab

More slug-looking than anything, this little guy is giving off a message to his predators that he will not make a tasty meal

The Evening Brown

Although not the most colorful

Evening Brown is a lovely butterfly

The Malachite Butterfly

named after the green mineral malachite

Great Purple Hairstreak

caterpillar (larvae more rightly) is pretty much the overweight kid

The Eastern Black Swallowtail

The Morpho Nestira

Clip Source: www.scienceray.com

Magellan's Iridescent Birdwing

Orange-barred Sulphur

The Monarch

Monarch caterpillar has now been spotted in places such as Bermuda

Tags: butterfly, caterpillar, larvae, flowers, metamorphosis, insect, lepidoptera

Community Garden Slide Show

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:14:44 GMT

clipped by: egsnyder
clipper's remarks: This is an 8 minute success story slide show featuring a downtown, urban community garden project in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Thanks to Pauline Gabriel, Regina.FullCircles.org, for bringing the project to our attention.

/e

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

NCCA Community Garden Slideshow

[Video]

Tags: community garden, sharing, gifting

Downtown McConnelsville Building Collapses

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:17:51 GMT

clipped by: presohio

Clip Source: www.whiznews.com

One of the older historic buildings in Morgan county has collapsed.

The building was located on Main street next to the Sheriff's Office and County Courthouse.

The collapse, last Friday, caused some excitement in downtown McConnelsville around 12:30 in the afternoon.

The building has a long history and at one time housed the popular Coffee Shop Restauarant and was also where the bus station was housed.

Chief Building Official with the Mid-East Ohio Building Department in Zanesville is Jim Waymer. He told WHIZ News that he had condemned the building a few weeks ago. "The building was condemned because there were bricks falling out of the side onto the alley and then from there the owner had the option of repairing the building or razing the building" said Waymer. "The indication we got that he got a contractor to come in and tear it down. The contractor just didn't do it soon enough."

Tags: preservation, demolition, mcconnelsville