Maggie O’Neill is coming to Los Angeles!

One of our favorite contemporary artists is Maggie O’Neill, based out of Washington, D.C. She does these fabulous paintings of the monuments, cityscapes, and neighborhoods. We actually bought our first piece of original art from her, a rendering of the Capitol building. The good news is that she, or more specifically her art, is coming into town (Los Angeles) …

Charles Dickens London

I’ve got a little trip coming up for Amy’s birthday and was browsing around on airbnb. We’re hoping to find a nice little cottage in Santa Barbara for a few days. Anyway, I found their blog and this great post on Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday on February 17, 2012. Doubtless, the dour Victorian author would …

Toronto – “a strong latent demand for more walkable neighborhoods”

The map above shows Toronto’s walkability, with the lighter portions indicating greater walkability (‘utilitarian walkability” being how easy it is to walk to do utilitarian things — get to work, shop — as opposed to for pure recreation). It’s striking how much high walkability follows the boundaries of the old City of Toronto. There are …

Photos – lunar halo, water strider, and a septuple rainbow

Lunar Halo The beautiful circle surrounding the moon in this image is caused by ice crystals suspended in the air. Known as a paraselenic circle, this rare phenomenon comes from moonlight reflecting in complex ways off the crystals. While the circle is commonly only seen in sections, in some cases, such as this one, it can stretch …

Useful dog tricks

Presenting, Useful Dog Tricks!! Whoever said tricks can’t be useful? Jesse loves helping around the house, and I just love his happy attitude and smile on his face =o) Jesse chooses to do the behaviors in this video, and has so much fun bringing smiles to people’s faces. He gets treats for doing his tricks, …

Most of us would probably survive a nuclear blast in Washington D.C.

It’s the most nightmarish scenario—a nuclear device being detonated in downtown Washington. Whammo and good night, right? For most of us, actually, that wouldn’t be the case, according to a recent study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The 120-page report, “Key Response Planning Factors for the Aftermath of Nuclear Terrorism,” was released last November. …

Is live streaming going to take over?

Famed author and technology journalist, Steven Levy, posed a question/bet on his Google+ stream: My bet (literally) is that most of the video we watch in 10 years will be live — whether a persistent connection with friends or co-workers, streams from the cameras of friends and strangers, or the increasing amount of pro entertainment …

Hasbro Star Wars toys – a universe of characters and vehicles

I got an email today about Hasbro toys being 20% off, and so did a little walk down memory lane. And, if you have kids these are some sweet gifts.

How algorithms shape our world – TED Talk

Kevin Slavin argues that we’re living in a world designed for — and increasingly controlled by — algorithms. In this riveting talk from TEDGlobal, he shows how these complex computer programs determine: espionage tactics, stock prices, movie scripts, and architecture. And he warns that we are writing code we can’t understand, with implications we can’t …