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alexeck

Elephant paints an elephant

March 29, 2008 12:28pm

It seems real. There's another vid here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9-9YDCirUU&eurl

This video made my day. Elephants rock.

Objects embedded in Brooklyn's asphalt

January 27, 2008 10:48am

Very cool! Although I do wish auto shops would stop using lead balance weights. I see them regularly on asphalt as they fall off of wheels. (interesting stuff at http://www.leadfreewheels.org/)

Warner to sell no-DRM MP3s on Amazon

December 28, 2007 9:38am

@alexeck - you're wrong. iTunes tracks are in AAC format, which is indeed better than MP3 but still lossy.

My bad, sorry.

I am no Apple fanboy, however. It's disgraceful that the majority of the music is still DRM'd. The illogic is peculiar -- You can't freely convert songs that you actually BOUGHT from them, but you can freely convert files off of CDs that you purchase .

Warner to sell no-DRM MP3s on Amazon

December 28, 2007 8:06am

since MP3s are MP3s, no matter where you buy them

Actually, correct dme if I'm wrong, but iTunes are compressed in a lossless format. The quality is better than an MP3. I don't know if Amazon only offers the files in a lossy format (i.e. MP3). If it is only MP3, I'm not interested. I can download my music from iTunes and de-DRM the files with ease with a variety of tools (which is what I do).


How the UK government deals with a broken light bulb

December 20, 2007 9:53am

Couple of quick additions to the endless commentary (note that I am not an expert on the subject).

- Many (not all) incandescent light bulb contain a small amount of lead at their base (that's the little dot of gray at the base of the bulb). However, AFAIK there's really no other hazards in these things that I know of. They are safer than CFLs from that standpoint.

- Our city requires that florescent tubes be disposed of at the local hazardous waste facility. Your city likely has similar rules.

- LED bulbs are certainly going to be the future. They consume little power and don't have really any hazardous properties that I know of. However, they are still too pricey now for the general public.

- There is a net-net environmental benefit to using CFLs, overall. Coal-burning power plants produce mercury (that's why it's in the fish). Doesn't make you feel much better if one broke in your house, though.

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