UnSuggester is a great tool to find things that you hate! I love it!
Type in a book that you really enjoy and the unsuggester will let you know what book you will find torturous. For example, here are unSuggestions Brave new world : and, Brave new world revisited by Aldous Huxley, perfectly it unSuggests that I read the Devil Wears Prada.
Kathryn has written in to tell us about an article in the Toronto Star about how things around the world are improving.
“How dare a conservative American economist tell us things are getting a whole lot better as if global warming wasn’t happening, as if Africa wasn’t being ravaged by AIDS, and if what’s happening in Iraq wasn’t an utter catastrophe.
Goklany, though, has assembled persuasive evidence that the state of the world is indeed, “improving.””
Over at Gear Factor there is a short and sweet post on a tower that uses solar energy to power itself, and to make it rotate.
“We didn’t want to build just another building or tower, we wanted to create something unique – a precious place to live – a genuine contender to be one of the great buildings in the world,” said Tav Singh, director of Dubai Property Ring, the Dubai arm of UK-based property investors UK Property Group.
Gift baskets at the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards will become a thing of the past, according to recent news reports.  Ceremony reps for both shows confirmed that, starting in 2007, presenters will not be given extravagant grab bags, which have totaled up to $100,000 (US).
A Golden Globes rep alleged that all attendees (even in the audience) would receive gifts “valued at less than $600.” A rep for the Oscars stated that “the Academy would like to thank presenters in a way that doesn’t carry a tax burden.”
Taxes are one reason why gift baskets are being nixed. Under U.S. income tax law, the baskets are seen as income, not gifts, and are subject to heavy taxes. The IRS reached an agreement with the Academy for previous extravagant gifts, including sending tax forms to 2006 Oscar presenters.
Another reason why celebrities will take home less next year: Edward Norton. The actor criticized the practise, describing it as a waste. He is quoted in a future edition of New York magazine as saying: “I’m sick of this. It’s not who we are – it makes us look ridiculous and out of touch. If these evenings are going to be a celebration of our craft and what we express about what’s going on in the world, then picking through $35,000 gift baskets is disgusting and shameful.”
The BBC is reporting that the UK government has agreed to allow two huge windfarms to be built off the eastern coast.
“The £1.5bn London Array scheme will have 341 turbines rising from the sea about 12 miles (20km) off the Kent and Essex coasts, as well as five offshore substations and four meteorological masts.
The government said both schemes would make “a significant contribution to the aim of a five-fold increase in the UK’s renewable energy resource by 2020”.