Creative Radio

Two innovative podcast programs worth a listen are Radiolab  and 99% Invisible. Get a view into each at the same time as Radiolab does a story about 99% Invisible, a tiny radio show about design, architecture & the 99% invisible activity that shapes our world.

 Public Pranks

I really want to meet some of the folks from Improv Everywhere. They have such a great spirit for urban adventures and putting a smile on strangers faces. Below are two of their capers but first a brief description from their website.

Improv Everywhere is a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 100 missions involving tens of thousands of undercover agents.

Carousel Horse Race

Frozen Grand Central

Promoting Winter Cycling

in Fort Collins, Colorado

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20111207/OPINION01/112070341/Bicyclists-urged-brave-winter-weather

In Chicago, Illinois

http://gridchicago.com/2011/advil-donates-fifty-bikes-and-a-bike-lane-snow-truck-by-katie-vogel/

Morvelo – Ride Everything

Arc’teryx Makes ‘Capes’ for Homeless

For the third year, Vancouver-based Arc’teryx Equipment Inc. will give capes made of waterproof Gore-Tex fabric to the city’s homeless. Called the Birds Nest Project, the annual charity leans on end-of-roll fabric remnants and Arc’teryx employees who volunteer their time to design and sew the capes in-house at the company’s North Vancouver factory…the rest of the story here.

This is a weekly digest of web links I think are worth checking out. Please comment on what you find interesting. If you have something to share, please submit links of interest to mike@kineticshift.com.

This Olympic attempted to be “green,” and the results were less than spectacular. So much so that a traditional propane powered Zamboni machine was brought in from Calgary. We like the idea of a “greener” Olympics, but what exactly is so much better about an electric machine – especially if it doesn’t work?

Clearly even a sport using nothing more than a “rock,” brooms and ice can go high tech in the new millennium.

The Panasonic sets will be released later this year, and available in 50-inch, 54-inch, 58-inch and a massive 65-inch screen sizes. These reproduced images alternately at 60 frames per second for each eye for a total of 120 frames per second. To experience this users do need the viewer to wear high-precision 3D eyewear with shutters driven in synchronization with the video, but viewers are treated to separate 1920×1080 full-HD images. So even if you can’t make it to Vancouver, you’ll be able to feel like you’re in London for the next Summer Olympics in 2012.

Our friends at Cnet.com are reporting that there will be more than 5,000 kilometers of cables, more than 40,000 Ethernet ports, more than 6,000 PCs, more than 3,000 TVs, more than 7,000 two-way radios and more than 7,000 radios used by the organizers to deliver the games. Consider that with the very first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 it took days for results to reach America, and now access to results will be instantaneous. One major change this year is that unlike in past years, all video, data and voice will traverse one IP network set up Atos Origin, Bell Canada and Avaya. To manage all this, the Olympic organizers now even have a full-time CIO on board. Let the games begin, and may the network not go down!