Wikilobbying: Stephen Colbert on Wikipedia

“Open source software is like free trade, and the invisible hand of the market has the mouse now.” “This is the essence of wikilobbying, when money determines Wikipedia entries, reality has become a commodity.” Pearls from Steven Colbert last night, in the same segment he also calls attention to the revelation the Microsoft has hired somone to try to make them “look better” on...

Seeing the forrest for the Albido?

It used to be so easy, just a few months ago it seemed that planting trees would be enough to offset my carbon footprint and, at the same time, help prevent soil errosion and other enviornmental problems in degraded environments. Not any more, Hope called my attention to this post on Grist that talks about a recent study showing mixed results of tree planting in battling global warming. While trees do absorb Carbon, they also absorb heat from the sun. As you approach the poles, it seems that trees might do more harm than good. And especially as the polar sea ice melts. Darker surfaces (green trees, and dark ocean waters) will absorb more of the suns rays compoundning the global warming problem. The BBC just ran a story on the World Service radio program that discussed just this dilemma (though I cannot find the link). So I guess that this year, instead of buying more trees, I’ll buy some carbon offset credits. UPDATE: Those who know me know I am a man of action, and integrity, I just decided to get myself a Terra Pass both for flight (40k pounds for $149) and driving. Since I use car sharing, rentals, or borrow various cars when I drive mostly, I just got the Cross Towner (for $39) which offsets about 8k pounds of C02, about 12k miles. The way I calculated my flight pass was a little imprecise, I said 8 Seattle to NY round trips, a few Seattle to San Franciscos, a Seattle to Palm Beach, and a Seattle to New Orleans. If figure at the end of...

CNN on politicians domain Names

CNN ran a report on their blog about presidential politicians’ efforts to secure domain names for their efforts. Among the list of candidates covered in the story was Tom Tancredo. The site bearing the name of Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, is registered to political Internet Strategist Henri Poole. Poole tells CNN he intends to use it “in opposing [Tancredo’s] nomination.” A spokesman for Tancredo, whose campaign site is actually www.TeamTancredo.com, said this is “not something we are concerned with,” pointing out that “hate sites against [Tancredo] are a dime a dozen.” Henri Poole is, of course, our Henri Poole! I thought the most interesting part of the quote above was the Tancredo staffer whop pointed out that anti-Tancredo sites are “a dime dozen.” What does that say about your...

My Favorite “PodCast”, How about yours?

I am pretty sure I have sung the praises of “Inside Renewable Energy” before, but if you haven’t listened, take a listen to the review of 2006 episode from last week. I like listening to I.R.E. because it highlights so many amazing renewable energy projects that are taking place around the world. it is also well produced, and the right length (12 to 27 minutes). Other than that, I don’t listen to many, though I do usually save up about a week’s worth of Jim Hightower’s Common Sense Commentaries and listen to them. I also listen to NPR’s All Songs Considered, but at an average of 45 minutes to an hour, it is a little long. It’s also worth noting that it is not really a “podcast” it is just a radio show adapted to a downloadable MP3...

Greenpeace takes another bite at the Apple

Greenpeace launched this great video yesterday to capitalize on all the Apple buzz around the iPhone. It is very cleaver, and very timely. I’ve got to hand it to the Tech Toxics / GreenMyApple campaign over at Greenpeace, this is a fantastic use of the medium and of Youtube. Alot of organizations should be looking at this type of a “stunt” to bring attention to their work. It reminds me of our Amazon Tagging action for DefectiveByDesign.org which got some press for making “DefectiveByDesign” one of the most popular tags on...