100 Mile Diet: The Book's Arrived

Here's the blog, but go buy the book here

On Virginia Tech

"There is no reason that any private citizen in a democracy should own a handgun. At some point, that simple truth will register. Until it does, phones will ring for dead children, and parents will be told not to ask why."

Shootings: Comment: The New Yorker

The Way We Age Now

Human beings fail the way all complex systems fail: randomly and gradually. As engineers have long recognized, many simple devices do not age. They function reliably until a critical component fails, and the whole thing dies instantly. A windup toy works smoothly until a gear rusts or a spring breaks, and then it doesn’t work at all. But complex systems—power plants, say—have to survive and function despite having thousands of critical components. Engineers therefore design these machines with multiple layers of redundancy: with backup systems, and backup systems for the backup systems. The backups may not be as efficient as the first-line components, but they allow the machine to keep going even as damage accumulates. Gavrilov argues that, within the parameters established by our genes, that’s exactly how human beings appear to work. We have an extra kidney, an extra lung, an extra gonad, extra teeth. The DNA in our cells is frequently damaged under routine conditions, but our cells have a number of DNA repair systems. If a key gene is permanently damaged, there are usually extra copies of the gene nearby. And, if the entire cell dies, other cells can fill in.

Nonetheless, as the defects in a complex system increase, the time comes when just one more defect is enough to impair the whole, resulting in the condition known as frailty. It happens to power plants, cars, and large organizations. And it happens to us: eventually, one too many joints are damaged, one too many arteries calcify. There are no more backups. We wear down until we can’t wear down anymore.

Annals of Medicine: The Way We Age Now: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker

Pearls Before Breakfast

The Washington Post has a brilliant concept piece, perfectly written and illustrated with video. Wow. Joshua Bell, Kant, Stradivarius, Koyaanisqatsi and the life of a commuter all in one article.
Likely the best article I've read in months - and those that know me know that encompasses several thousand articles (which is actually an interesting point in itself. I should one day work out just how many words a day I read. A scary thought, greatly in inverse proportion to how much I write). I wonder if it will actually change my behaviour on a day to day basis.
Anyway, I imagine that the WashPost will take it offline or behind subscriber doors soon, so I highly recommend reading/watching/pondering it.
Also - a follow-up here.
and here
and here

The 4 Kinds of Flat Roofs

Hmm. What to do...

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/knowhow/exteriors/article/0,16417,1127447,00.html

housing prices rollercoaster

What a ride! And quite the information aesthetics. I want to do that for some of my work data...

Have Your Say On Toronto's New "Street Furniture"

Toronto's sell-out of public space continues.
It's instructive to examine the vendors record on illegalsigns.ca

Toronto's hidden rivers

This is great. Check out the sub-links on Toronto area river basins: http://www.thestar.com/photoGallery/199469.
http://www.lostrivers.ca/
http://www.torontofieldnaturalists.org/

Canoe Paddling - Canadian Style

Wow. Makes me look like such an inelegant hack.

Trip Recap: Wapta Un-Traverse

Pictures are here.