Tuesday, July 26, 2011

WWF video

The world is where we live from WWF on Vimeo.

Friday, July 22, 2011

The evils and costs of commuting

Let me quote a study about happiness for you:

"The daily activity most injurious to happiness is commuting."

Apparently there are over 3.5 million Americans who spend more than three hours commuting each day, and a person with an one-hour commute has to earn 40% more money to be as satisfied with life as someone who walks to the office. What does that even mean? I guess if you were to quantify that, those three hour commuters have to make 120% more money? I'm sure that's faulty logic and it's pretty difficult to quantify happiness and opportunity cost. Nevertheless, it goes to show that commuting is injurious to daily well-being. I know my mother swears that she'll never return to commuting those 2 hours a day anymore. So when it comes to weighing the choices in real estate - they're saying the larger house in the suburbs does not outweigh the tortures of daily commute. Food for thought indeed...

























Click image to enlarge


Along the same lines, I saw an infographic (my faves) on the amount of money various US cities spend on gas (and also commuting t0 an extent). Topping the list in the "Guzzlers" category is San Jose, California with $216/month and the lowest in the "Teetotalers" category is New York, NY at $102/month.

Sure this might be accurate when it comes to commuting by personal vehicle. However, if you look at the lowest cities - they consist of New York City, Brooklyn, Washington D.C., Boston, Denver, and Chicago. I'm willing to bet that many people in these cities commute just as long as those in San Jose but via public transportation. So would it be fair to say that people in NY and happier on average than those in San Jose? Ehh... I'd like to see if commuting by car (personal driving) vs public transportation have different levels of impact on happiness levels.

Either way, I know that if it ever came time to purchase a home, I'd be willing to sacrifice some space for convenience. To quote my friend, everything in life..."pros and cons, pros and cons!"

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

"Snail Mail My Email"

When was the last time you actually took the time to send out a handwritten letter through post mail? I think mine was...sometime during high school?

Check out this new month-long project called "Snail Mail My Email" that runs from 7/15-8/15. The project founder, Ivan Cash, is going to do the writing and sending for us while we continue to be lazy bums and type our message. It just might be a bit disconcerting for the recipient to read a letter that's personal in content but completely unrecognizable in handwriting...

O.M.G.





Can you believe it? "The Only Complete Swiss Army Knife." 87 tools, 112 functions, 2.75 lbs, and $1,200. This behemoth is ready to serve in the event that you need to repair a divot, scale a fish, check your tire pressure, set a bicycle chain, and of course pick your tooth.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Our collaborative future




















Yet another informative diagram. Share people...SHARE!

I wish I could take advantage of all these websites, but many only seem to have a solid participant pool in the large cities like NYC, SF, Boston, etc... I'd totally rent out my car/spare room and be a task runner :)

Hmm...am I a cat person then?



Wednesday, July 6, 2011

"Wish I'd thought of that"




First of all...submission credit to Chanelle White~ She emailed me this rad link that she discovered on one of her most frequented blogs - How About Orange.


How simple and economical!