Come Hell of High Water (trailer, DVD) – documenting the culture of bodysurfing

  Keith Malloy’s debut film, Come Hell or High Water, shot primarily on 16mm focuses on the simplicity and beauty of bodysurfing. “It’s about taking a breath, and kicking your feet, in the big blue sea.” – Patagonia   The film explores the history and progression of the sport of bodysurfing and the pureness that …

In the United Kingdom texting is now more popular than making phone calls

People in the UK are now more likely to text than to make a phone call, according to new research from Ofcom. While 58% of people communicated via texts on a daily basis in 2011, only 47% made a daily mobile call, said the country’s communications industry regulator. It said the shift away from traditional …

United Kingdom unemployment matches ours – and they use funny terms to describe it

Read this for news on the world economy, or just enjoy the interesting words the Brits use to describe their unemployment: Jobseekers Allowance (unemployment benefits), shadow work (?)…   UK unemployment total falls to 2.58m The unemployment rate fell to 8.1% in the period, down from 8.3% in the previous quarter. The ONS figures showed that the …

YouTube a major platform for news – says new Pew report

According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, “YouTube is becoming a major platform for viewing news.” By far, the incident that sparked the most interest was the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Pew looked at the most popular videos in the “news & politics” section of YouTube over those 15 months and found …

NASA’s master plan – to create the next space airlines

The Commercial Crew Program is responsible for helping companies develop vehicles that can ferry astronauts, and maybe civilians, to space. Could this lead to a ‘spaceline’ industry, a la the airlines? An interview with Ed Mango, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program:   What’s the goal of the Commercial Crew Program? We still have Americans in …

Local tribe of Chumash Native Americans goes all-in on sustainability

In perfect step with the wisdom and heritage of their ancestors — who lived in relative harmony with nature for thousands of prosperous years — the Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians is turning its 130-acre reservation into a trailblazing example of sustainability in action. During the past five years, with very little fanfare or recognition from the outside …

What if the world’s greatest works of art, when seen one after another, told a story?

What if the world’s greatest works of art, when seen one after another, told a story? A story of people, places, nature and motion. artCircles from Art.com brings you “Van Gogh to Rothko in 30 Seconds,” an epic journey of discovery through the world’s most inspiring art collection.   // Thx to Mara Mascaro

Random acts of journalism – the new media

People don’t care about scoops, they care about trust. Social media has compressed the news cycle to the point where the half-life of a scoop is measured in minutes rather than hours or days. The number of people who care about who reported something first is rapidly diminishing Instead, what matters most to readers and …

The Earth is filling up, by NPR (video)

It was just over two centuries ago that the global population was 1 billion — in 1804. But better medicine and improved agriculture resulted in higher life expectancy for children, dramatically increasing the world population, especially in the West. As higher standards of living and better health care are reaching more parts of the world, …