think or thwim

Adam Curtis has a knack for explaining how things got to be how they are. This series of four 1 hour films traces the effects Sigmund Freud’s theories about the unconscious through the culture, marketing, and politics of the last century. Like The Power of Nightmares, this series weaves a broad range of historical events into a coherent story.

Dennis Lim wrote a great review of it for the Village Voice. The embedded Stage 6 videos will take a long time to load. Use the other links below if you’re in a hurry.

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Some of my favorites from last year in no particular order.

	For Sale By Owner - Titan Missile Silo
	My Impressions of the Earthaven Ecovillage
	How To Hide An Airplane Factory
	Rod Rylander’s Hobbit House
	Peace is a Process
	Sculptures by Erwin Wurm
	Andrew Skurka’s 7700 Mile Hike
	Negative Space Furniture
	Fire from Ice
	Don’t Look Down, Hans
	The Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy
	Fire Ants - Mean Bastards of the Ant World
	Sapporo Snow Festival
	Face-painted Fish in a Relationship
	Miles Per Gallon For Everything
	Good News!
	Plaster Casts of Ant Nests
	Kim Steiniger Bird Photography
	180 Mile Per Hour Treadmill
	Excavating a Huge Ant Nest
	Peter Callesen - Paper Cutter Extraordinaire
	Five Causes of Suckiness in American Architecture
	l’Hydroptère - 6.5 Tons of Pure Awesome
	The KKK on a Ferris Wheel
	Andre Martins de Barros
	My All Time Favorite Picture
	Train Passes Through Market
	Sam Maloof - Woodworker
	Tim Noble and Sue Webster
	The World’s Most Fuel Efficient Car - 12,000 Miles Per Gallon
	Pictures of Walls
	How the Mountain Bike Was Invented
	Huacachina - Peruvian Oasis
	Sand Sculptures
	The Bizarre Island Principality of Sealand
	Watercube - The Beijing National Aquatics Centre
	For Sale - The Most Beautiful and Expensive Private Island in the World
	Bugatti Veyron
	Mars Rover Photographed From Space

On the day I watched this, our son had already steered the car, played with fire, and sliced his finger with a sharp knife. 3 out of 5 in one day. We’re awesome parents.

I also really like this idea: Get Your Children in Debt

Adrian Bowyer’s presentation about RepRap at Poptech. RepRap is an open source 3D printer that will be able to print copies of itself as well as cups, combs, iPod cases, and any other plasticy things you can dream up.

The project started at the beginning of 2004, and the first object was printed in June 2006. The first complete self replication is supposed to happen later this year. The non-printed parts currently include the electronics, motors, screws, and metal frame pieces. Those parts cost about $500. As RepRap evolves, future generations should become capable of printing those parts as well.

Vik Olliver took his RepRap to OSCON 2007. There is a short video of it in action at YouTube.

:: The Pirate’s Dilemma

The town of Nogales is split down the middle by the US/Mexico border. In these pictures Mexico is on the left, and the US is on the right. In 1898 you could cross anywhere. Now there is a 15 foot high wall and border patrol agents every 50 yards.

You can still see many of the same buildings on the Mexican side, but only a few remain on the American side. Here is each side of the border for comparison:

Somebody should take this picture again in 2108.

This is a closeup of the wall taken from the US side. Cutting torch appears to be a popular way to immigrate to the US. There are patches like these all over the wall.

The 1898 photo is from US National Archives | Photos of the American West: 1861-1912 (#163).

This is a great presentation. Not because Chouinard is a polished speaker (he doesn’t look comfortable in front of a crowd), but because it’s good information about how to run a decent company from a guy that’s done it.

His book: Yvon Chouinard | Let My People Go Surfing

It’s the wrong question. They both suck. Manufacturing plastic bags takes 40% less energy and results in less air and water pollution and less logging than paper. Both are recyclable. However, recycling is an energy intensive process, and only about 10-15% of paper bags and 1-2% of plastic bags actually get recycled. Since they tend to fly away with a little wind, a significant quantity of plastic bags are floating in the Pacific Gyre, a huge toilet bowl of plastic trash north of Hawaii where the ocean currents eventually take unwanted things that float.

The Answer

1. Stop buying so much.
2. Use your own canvas bags (organic cotton).
3. Include the real cost to society in the monetary price of each choice. Ireland levied a bag tax to raise the price of plastic bags to 20 cents each, and the quantity used dropped 90%.
4. Tell store managers that you want them to use biodegradable bags made of corn starch. They cost 6 cents, the same as a paper bag. Plastic bags only cost 1-2 cents, so stores aren’t going to use them until their customers show them it’s to their advantage.

If you’re in need of a New Year’s resolution, swearing off paper and plastic seems like a good one.

Now that we’ve got that sorted, let’s move on to bigger questions - like real or fake Christmas trees (they both suck too, but if your primitive religion requires the sacrifice of a conifer to your god for the winter solstice, real trees are better).