randomwalks/dj

Even though I’ve never prepared a square meal, I can’t stop watching shows about food. The irony here cannot be overstated, and saying that I’ve never made a square meal is actually giving me too much credit; if I’m coming clean, the most I’ve ever “made” is grilled chicken on a George Foreman grill. I’m 27 years old!

It’s well known within my circle that I absolutely do not cook, nor do I even stock my kitchen with microvable (or other) food anymore because I eat it all within two days of buying it (which belies my somewhat diminutive size) — it’s cheaper to just eat out (I’ll argue that math all day long).

The point is, I have no idea why I’m so fascinated with food shows, and why, when I plop down in front of the TV, they always seem to take precedence over everything else on my DVR (save maybe, some guilty-pleasure, tasteless “reality TV”).

Some of my favorites:

• Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations (it would be remiss of me to not mention Tony’s excellent book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly)
• Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern (drinking game: have a shot every time he describes food as either “briny” or “gamey”)
• Top Chef
• Hell’s Kitchen
• Unwrapped
• Taste of America

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Justin Blanton, on July 28, 2007 6:16 PM

Last month Reverend Billy was locked up for reciting the First Amendment in Union Square. Tonight he returns with a troupe of others to speak out against the outrageous new law that would limit public photography and filming in New York. Currently there are 2,285,188 photos tagged "New York" on Flickr, and that's just one photo sharing site, imagine if the number stopped there and we lost future images of the city. A new group has sprung up called Picture New York, and they ask you to do just what their name suggests:

"Picture New York WITHOUT pictures of New York. The most photographed city in the world is about to be shut down visually by proposed regulations which would basically make it illegal to film or tape in NYC without a permit and a million dollars of insurance. An overnight, massive grassroots fight against these proposed regulations has sprung up under the name 'Picture New York.' Fighting back with YouTube videos, petitions, handwritten letters, a website, Flickr space and a rally and press conference this Friday in Union Square, this ad-hoc group of working artists, photographers and filmmakers vow to stop the regulations going into effect as scheduled in September from the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting (MOFTB). Albert Maysles, Patti Smith, Michael Stipe and Amy Arbus are among the celebrated artists who have already signed on to demand the MOFTB extend the period of public comment, currently ending August 3, and eliminate the proposed regulations: 11 pages of single-spaced rules where none existed before."

Join the good Rev Billy and his Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, Critical Mass bike riders, and the above mentioned Picture New York tonight in Union Square. Fight for your right to Flickr! And no, the rally does not have a permit, so wear your comfy shoes incase you end up in the slammer. Details: Tonight at 6:30pm at the north end of Union Square. Super Deluxe has a pretty funny video of some guys rapping and filming around New York. Watch it here (it comes with helpful suggestions on what to do if the law passes, such as: shoot from Jersey with a zoom lens, dress a tripod up like a dude and much much more). Photo of Reverend Billy in Union Square via Rachael Noel's Flickr.

Originally posted by arts_jen from Gothamist Weekly Favorites, on July 28, 2007 2:32 PM

The new third generation 15″ MacBook Pro, based on Intel’s Santa Rosa chipset, arrived this week and was immediately pressed into service while I was on location shooting the 2007 Open Source Convention. Here are the bits and bobs that I’ve noticed so far:

• It’s quite a bit snappier at many things than my first generation 17″ MacBook Pro. Much snappier than the difference in clock speed between 2.16 and 2.4GHz should give.
• The LED screen is bright bright bright. Bright enough to look really good in places where I couldn’t comfortably use the display before.
• Apple shrunk the 85W power adapter back down to regular power adapter size instead of the wide fatty size that came with my previous MacBook Pros.
• I somewhat miss the extra screen size of the 17″ MacBook Pro. Those extra pixels were nice to have. However, I justified it as I like doing most of my photo editing work on external displays anyway.
• I definitely appreciate carrying around a bit less weight. I notice the weight difference both in picking up the laptop to carry around the house and in my backpack. It’s funny, because I didn’t really notice the weight increase going from the 15″ to the 17″.
• When reading mail and running Safari, the new laptop is running cooler than my previous MacBook Pros. Quite a bit cooler really. But, when the processor is loaded as I work through my photos in Lightroom, it heats right up as you might expect.
• The screen seems to have calibrated nicely. A quick look at the profiles back up Rob Galbraith’s observations.

Bottom line: So far, so good. Best of all, I was able to profile the screen, toss Lightroom on it, and get down to work with a minimum of fuss. I love it when things go smoothly like that.

Originally posted by James Duncan Davidson from James Duncan Davidson, on July 28, 2007 11:56 AM

I want to learn Python. Should I learn Python 2.6 or Python 3.0? (2.x) If you're killing reduce(), why are you keeping map() and filter()? (code readability) Is Python 3.0 going to get rid of the GIL (Global Interpreter Lock) in order to be able to benefit from Multi-core processors? (no) I prefer to use the same source code for 2.x and 3.0; I really don't want to have to use the 2to3 source conversion tool. Why can't you make that work? (intersection is large, suit yourself)

Originally posted by Michal Migurski from tecznotes links, on July 28, 2007 8:24 AM

I LOVE sharks. I could make you sit through the 11 minutes of video of the shark feed and shark swim I was in, but, well, I'll spare you on this occasion. Jaws was my favourite movie of my tween years. Which brings me to area/code's new project (built in nine! weeks!), Sharkrunners.

Sharkrunners, designed for Discovery Channel's 20th Anniversary Shark Week, is a persistent game of oceanic exploration and high stakes shark research. Players take on the role of marine biologists who seek to learn as much as possible about sharks through advanced observation techniques.

In the game, players control their ships, but the sharks are controlled by real-world white sharks with GPS units attached to their fins. Real-world telemetry data provides the position and movement of actual great white sharks in the game, so every shark that players encounter corresponds to a real shark in the real world.

Ships move in real-time, so don't expect any high-speed chases or such; but if you're into shark tracking, or marine biology in general, this is a game for you.

Originally posted by Alice from Wonderland, on July 28, 2007 7:37 AM

Yep, in case you didn't know, BBC now stands for WTF?

"With today's launch of the iPlayer, the BBC Trust has failed in its most basic of duties and handed over to Microsoft sole control of the on-line distribution of BBC programming. From today, you will need to own a Microsoft operating system to view BBC programming on the web. This is akin to saying you must own a Sony TV set to watch BBC TV. And you must accept the Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) that the iPlayer imposes. You simply cannot be allowed to be in control of your computer according to the BBC." - Link (via)

Originally posted by Drew from Dembot, on July 28, 2007 7:15 AM

"It is suspicious to stare at dimes." (link)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from kottke.org, on July 28, 2007 6:33 AM

RENEWING THE ANARCHIST TRADITION A Scholarly Conference November 2-4, 2007 in Montpelier, Vermont The eighth edition of the Renewing the Anarchist Tradition (RAT) conference, sponsored by the Institute for Anarchist Studies, once again aims to provide a participatory and scholarly space in which to reexamine, reinvigorate, and make relevant the social and political tradition of anarchism. Each year, RAT brings together anarchists, anti-authoritarians, and libertarians who want to critically engage both the tradition itself and the world in which we live. Participants and presenters at the conference thereby contribute to developing a more rigorous contemporary theoretical framework for anarchism as well as a stronger basis from which anti-authoritarian movements can organize and resist. In a historical moment characterized overwhelmingly by war, exploitation, forced displacement, dispossession, and environmental devastation, it might seem strange to spend a peaceful fall weekend

Originally posted by stevphen shukaitis from gmane.culture.internet.nettime, on July 28, 2007 12:00 AM

I knew Japan was the birthplace of square watermelons, but the concept of watermelons vaguely shaped like human heads with bulging eyeballs is new to me. PingMag takes us into the world of strangely shaped watermelon breeding, where pyramidal watermelons will set you back $650 and the human head-shaped ones may cost you your soul. The heart-shaped cucumbers are much more accessible at around $2 for one cuke and probably taste more like their normal-shaped counterpart than the molded watermelons.

Originally posted by Robyn Lee from Serious Eats: Main, on July 27, 2007 3:00 PM

Stewart posted a photo:

Originally posted by Stewart from Sylloge, on July 27, 2007 1:11 PM

Hey fam, I thought you should hear it from your boy first.

Three words: Vibe. Juice. Obama.

Monday it'll all make sense...

Originally posted by Zentronix from zentronix: dubwise & hiphopcentric, on July 27, 2007 12:54 PM

The Statesman | Armstrong to cheer on team Saturday

Lance Armstrong will be attending Saturday's individual time trial and Sunday's race into Paris.

Discovery Channel currently has riders in 1st, 3rd, and 8th, and leads the team competition and the white jersey competition.

A dose of publicity from the team's co-owner, the 7-time Tour champion, could also help land a new sponsor. Discovery Channel's sponsorship runs only through the end of the season.

Originally posted by Frank Steele from Tour de France 2007, on July 27, 2007 11:46 AM

Politiken.dk | Ny dopingafsløring af markant rytter på vej

A Danish newspaper is reporting that a jersey holder tested positive after Stage 14, when Contador edged Rasmussen, and that Christian Prudhomme will announce the result in a press conference at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Your jerseys at that point were Rasmussen, Contador (white), Soler (polka-dot), and Boonen (green).

If it turns out to be Rasmussen, we may have more information on why he was withdrawn. If it's one of the others, they should just give it up.

Update: HLN.be reports that Barloworld's Mauricio Soler is the likely rider to be named, and that the team hotel has already been raided by police.

(Via cycling fans anonymous.)

Originally posted by Frank Steele from Tour de France 2007, on July 27, 2007 11:35 AM

If you're in NYC, you should join me, and my friends from Serious Eats, A Hamburger Today, and Gothamist for the Burger Bash at Water Taxi Beach tomorrow. It's going to be a pile of delicious burgers, accompanied by some good beer (first keg is free, courtesy of my employers) and then later on, holy crap, Grandmaster Flash is spinning! What's not to love?

The only tricky part is that you have to buy tickets in advance. Go buy them now, it's only $13.50 and they're even going to have Butter Burgers. Mmm, butter.

Originally posted by Anil from Anil Dash, on July 27, 2007 11:17 AM

The racing continues for Team Bike Hugger at Toona. They’re 8th overall in the Team GC with Julie Beveridge in the top 20 and Nicole Wansgard made an appearance on Cyclingnews with this photo.

Photo credit: Kurt Jambretz/www.actionimages.cc

Originally posted by DL Byron from Bike Hugger, on July 27, 2007 11:03 AM

There's a nice post today over at Baseball Prospectus about Barry Bonds: “Why would a baseball player have needed an undetectable steroid when drug testing wasn’t mandated until 2003?” Conte said. “To suggest that Barry’s 2001 record of 73 home runs was assisted by ‘the clear’ is ridiculous and simply makes no sense.”

Originally posted by David Jacobs from hello, typepad, on July 27, 2007 10:58 AM

There's a nice post today over at Baseball Prospectus about Barry Bonds:

“Why would a baseball player have needed an undetectable steroid when drug testing wasn’t mandated until 2003?” Conte said. “To suggest that Barry’s 2001 record of 73 home runs was assisted by ‘the clear’ is ridiculous and simply makes no sense.”

Originally posted by David Jacobs from hello, typepad, on July 27, 2007 10:58 AM

The images of an aluminum keyboard purporting to be the new iMac keyboard have been subjected to a lot of scrutiny, but they seem to be the real thing. We'll tell you why.

Read More...

Originally posted by justin.berka@gmail.com (Justin Berka) from Infinite Loop, on July 27, 2007 10:13 AM

I live a block away from the delicious intersection of Grom Street and Beard Papa Avenue on the Upper West Side. Ever since Grom opened its doors, dispensing costly but delicious gelati and sorbetti, I have felt sorry for the young Japanese workers at the much emptier Beard Papa. If they weren't so even-tempered and polite, they would be standing outside their storefront yelling, "Why are you waiting on line like sheep at Grom? There's no waiting for our just-as-refreshing mango ice shower, it's much bigger, and it costs a quarter less!"

I was contemplating this state of affairs last weekend as I walked past Grom on my way to the farmers' market on 77th Street and Columbus Avenue. Shockingly, Grom was empty. It was as if Mussolini had parted the Mediterranean. Instead of spending a five-spot on a teeny scoop of pistachio gelato or grapefruit sorbetti, I ordered a Sicilian lemon granita. I watched the counterperson scoop a surprisingly ample portion of shaved ice into an eight-ounce cup. A Grom granita turned out to be a designer version of an old-fashioned Italian ice, only better, thanks to its perfect lemony, sweet-tart flavor balance.

I then went next door to Beard Papa and ordered a mango ice shower. A mango ice shower is made of layers of mango syrup, shaved ice, mango slices, and a shot of condensed milk. It is unbelievably delicious and refreshing, a perfect antidote to a humid New York summer's day. And it's even bigger than a Grom granita and costs $4.50, a quarter less than Grom's granita. For another buck, Beard Papa will throw in a scoop of mango sorbet, but it's unnecessary.

So all things being equal (which they never are, since there is invariably a long line at Grom), which ice do I prefer? They're both great, they're both delicious, and here's the kicker: They both last a really long time. It takes me at least ten minutes to finish either one, whereas I finish a small Grom gelato or a Beard Papa cream puff in seconds. But if I had to choose, I would go with the mango ice shower. It's that good.

So if you find yourself craving a bit of refreshing deliciousness this weekend in New York, head to the corner of 76th and Broadway and buy yourself a cup of long-lasting pleasure.

Originally posted by Ed Levine from Serious Eats: Main, on July 27, 2007 7:30 AM

New York Times: "With the help of simple tools introduced by Internet companies recently, millions of people are trying their hand at cartography, drawing on digital maps and annotating them with text, images, sound and videos."

Originally posted by Michal Migurski from tecznotes links, on July 27, 2007 7:04 AM

Looking for the corn flour based empanada like quesadillas I've enjoyed in Guadalajara. Any tips as to where to go?

Originally posted by Fat and Happy Food Slut from Serious Eats: Main, on July 27, 2007 6:42 AM

The NYT has a great article on the rise of maps made with web tools. A really nice overview with some interesting stats. There is a lot of mapping going on.

• 40,000 maps made on Platial
• 50,000 Google Map mashups
• 1,000,000 MSN Collection maps
• 1,300,000 Garmin maps of hikes, trails, rides
• 4,000,000 Google MyMap maps
• 25,000,000 Flickr Geo-tagged photos

Originally posted by joshua mack from DefinitiveInk, on July 27, 2007 5:49 AM

Quick Post

He's sitting on uranium-rich land, but chooses to preserve his tribe's history. [via ze]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/07/13/1183833772710.html?page=fullpage

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Capn Design, on July 26, 2007 7:58 PM

JK Rowling gives a bit more closure to all the closure she provided in Potter #7. Lots of spoilers. (link)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from kottke.org, on July 26, 2007 6:44 PM

I seem to remember a time when the Tour was fun. And after the last couple of days, I thought we could all use a little bit of the Tour's lighter, dare I say more whimsical, side.

Snark first: Elden at FatCyclist offers 5 Questions About the Tour de France Thus Far, including: Question 2. How come people keep sending Iban Mayo to the Tour?

The video above (which I saw first at QuickRelease.TV) has French accordion music and a setup worth of Punch & Judy or Itchy and Scratchy. It also reminded me of a site that tracks the Tour's publicity caravan and scale models of the caravan vehicles (and speaking of Itchy and Scratchy, here's the elaborate rolling Les Simpson, Le Film diorama in this year's caravan), mostly in French (also here).

And nobody uses model cyclists and race vehicles better than Anthony Pope, with his Plastic Peloton People, where he's put up a “print-out-and-keep momento” of the London Grand Depart. Here's an interview with Pope in PezCyclingNews in June.

Originally posted by Frank Steele from Tour de France 2007, on July 26, 2007 6:41 PM

I was pleased to be asked to contribute an article to Ambidextrous Magazine (from Stanford’s d.school)  in their upcoming “Food” issue (available soon). What’d I write about? Well, it’s been a number of years since I stopped cooking professionally, but I have been struck by what I think some interaction designers could learn from watching how a restaurant kitchen operates. My original pitch sounded like this:

Chefs organize their cooks and their space with a few key principles in mind: maximizing consistency of product, ensuring creative freedom to experiment, and encouraging effective problem solving under incredibly stressful conditions… For those who manage creative organizations, the professional kitchen can provide inspiration for how to balance these principles effectively.

If you’d like to read the article, it’s available here as a three page PDF. If you take the opportunity to read it, please let me know what you think. Huge thanks to Amanda Willoughby and Evany Thomas for their careful editing work, and to Lora Oehlberg and Mike Pihulic from Ambidextrous for making it a pleasure to contribute to the magazine.

Share This

Originally posted by Ryan Freitas from Adaptive Path, on July 26, 2007 3:11 PM

Behold, the combination of two things many parents highly disapprove of: candy and The Simpsons. Candy Addict lists the Top 10 Simpsons Candy Moments to celebrate the release of the upcoming Simpsons movie. While I can't recall every one of these moments, I agree that nothing can beat Homer's gleeful frolic through the Land of Chocolate:

Originally posted by Robyn Lee from Serious Eats: Main, on July 26, 2007 3:10 PM

"In the game, players control their ships, but the sharks are controlled by real-world white sharks with GPS units attached to their fins. Real-world telemetry data provides the position and movement of actual great white sharks in the game, so every shark that players encounter corresponds to a real shark in the real world."

Originally posted by Michal Migurski from tecznotes links, on July 26, 2007 2:42 PM

During the earnings conference call yesterday, Apple's CFO hinted at an upcoming "product transition," which could point to any number of product updates.

Read More...

Originally posted by justin.berka@gmail.com (Justin Berka) from Infinite Loop, on July 26, 2007 1:55 PM

With 22 million miles logged and a whole lotta iPods, the runners who log their runs on the Nike+ system have crossed a new milestone.

Read More...

Originally posted by jacqui@arstechnica.com (Jacqui Cheng) from Infinite Loop, on July 26, 2007 1:15 PM

Did Angelina Jolie give the OK to this? Page Six reports that Brad Pitt and ex-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow are reuniting for a new film called Dirty Tricks, a political drama about the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. Annette Bening, Meryl Streep and Sharon Stone co-star. The film marks the first time the former flames have appeared on screen together in nearly 12 years (they last co-starred in Seven).

We wonder what Jennifer Aniston will make of all this. Hmmm.

Originally posted by sbyrne from Daily Blabber, on July 26, 2007 12:26 PM

While Le Tour continues, in chaos, this photo reminds me of “Le Tour de life,” where we just love bikes, that’s our dope.

Yes, no helmet, but the photo speaks for itself and also what you’re telling us in comments.

Originally posted by DL Byron from Bike Hugger, on July 26, 2007 11:51 AM

Originally posted by weevil@wileywiggins.com (Wiley Wiggins) from News of the dead, on July 26, 2007 11:20 AM

Posted by Matthew Glotzbach, Product Management Director, Google Enterprise

With more than 200 million downloads and counting, Google Earth is known around the world. Less well-known is our Google Earth Enterprise which companies, organizations and government agencies use to view their global data and imagery. Experts and amateurs alike use it for everything from designing new buildings to exploring for energy to responding to emergencies, because Google Earth Enterprise offers access to geospatial info that was once limited to specialty applications.

For instance, check out Dell's implementation showing a geographic view of traffic to Dell.com:



Today, we're releasing the latest version, which makes it easy to publish and view Google Earth datasets in 2D using a browser. By accessing Google Earth Enterprise from a web browser, employees across an organization will benefit from the rich geographic tapestry. There's more detail on the Google Lat/Long blog.

Originally posted by Karen from Official Google Blog, on July 26, 2007 10:13 AM

PORT says that the Portland Art Museum has taken a "more intellectually engaged turn" since director John Buchanan left...

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Modern Art Notes, on July 26, 2007 7:46 AM

A month ago, danah boyd blogged her essay about the social distinctions between MySpace and FaceBook users. Now she writes a follow-up. She attempts to clear up some issues, and also responds to the firestorm of comments, blog posts and media stories her post generated. It's worth a read if you have 10 minutes.

My question is this: In a world where we can publish anything we want and everyone else can respond with all kinds of personal attacks against us, do we have more freedom of expression than we used to? Or do we have less?

Originally posted by stephen_baker from BusinessWeek Online - Blogspotting, on July 26, 2007 7:32 AM

TED Curator Chris Anderson writes: Last night, I attended the New York premiere of The Devil Came on Horseback, a searing documentary about Darfur, told through the eyes of US military observer Brian Steidle, whose photographs of the ongoing genocide there exploded onto the world two years ago. They raised awareness then, and the new film has the potential to do so again. It packs a powerful punch. I came out seething with anger, and I think that was the intent. Manohla Dargis of the New York Times writes: "Brutal, urgent, devastating -- the documentary The Devil Came on Horseback demands to be seen as soon as possible and by as many viewers as possible." See it if you possibly can. If anyone out there thinks they can help boost distribution of the film (similar to how this community helped with An Inconvenient Truth), please let me know and I'll connect you with the filmmakers Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from TED | TEDBlog, on July 26, 2007 6:25 AM

IHT.com | France reels from Tour de France scandals, and newspaper urges calling off race

The Independent | Tour de France: French demand drastic action as outrage turns into disgust

Hugh Schofield, writing in The Independent, provides some reaction from French newspapers: from Aujourd'hui en France: “Cheats, Get Out!” (in French, “Tricheurs dehors!”); in La Nouvelle Republique, “It's the Tour of Shame.”

The Associated Press notes France Soir's front page obituary (at right), which said the Tour died today, “at age 104, after a long illness.” Any names pointedly missing?

Liberation editorialized:

"The Tour must be stopped.”

“This procession of cyclists has been transformed into a caravan of ridicule,” Liberation wrote. “If the organizers really want to save cycling, they should stop the competition and declare a pause of a few years, enough time to treat these athletes-turned-druggies.”

Also:

Liberation.fr | La mort du Tour (in French)

Forbes.com | U.S. Sponsors of Tour de France Hang On

WSJ.com | Tour de France Sponsors May Pull Out

Originally posted by Frank Steele from Tour de France 2007, on July 26, 2007 6:25 AM

When Michael Rasmussen's withdrawal was announced by Rabobank, their press officer said it was because Rasmussen had admitted to director Theo de Rooij that he was in Italy when Davide Cassani claimed to see him on June 13 or 14th:

"When Rasmussen was confronted with this information he confirmed to [team manager] Theo de Rooij he was at that moment in Italy," said Rabobank press officer Jacob Bergsma. "That was the reason De Rooij decided to get him out of the Tour and the team."

Today, Rasmussen denied this to the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD.nl story and video, in Dutch):

“I am shattered. I am on the verge of tears. I was not in Italy. Not at all. That's the story of one man who believes he recognised me. There is no hint of evidence.”

“My career is ruined. I have no idea what I should do or where I will go. This is an enormous blow for me, and also for all the guys from the Rabo team. They're devastated.”

Originally posted by Frank Steele from Tour de France 2007, on July 26, 2007 5:52 AM

I just don't know anyone who has ... the always disputed #1 restaurant in the world.

Originally posted by Kbear919 from Serious Eats: Main, on July 26, 2007 5:32 AM

My early pick for video of the year? Zach Galifianakis' take on Kanye West's "Can't Tell Me Nothing". Absolute genius, and even features a cameo by Bonnie "Prince" Billy

More on the video's origin at The Fader.

Originally posted by Anil from Anil Dash, on July 25, 2007 8:48 PM

The developer who plans to transform Brooklyn waterfront where the Domino Sugar factory stands unveiled the billion-dollar plans yesterday. According to the NY Sun, there will be 2,200 housing units, 120,000 square feet of retail space, and 100,000 square feet of community space. Thirty percent of the housing will be affordable: 530 will be rentals (100 units for families making $21,000; 330 for families making up to $40,000; "100 for seniors who make up to 50% of the median income for the area") while 130 units will be for sale to "families making up to $90,000 annually." Community Preservation Corporation Resources (a pointed company name if there ever was one) president Michael Lappin said this would be "the first time in several generations that this part of the waterfront will be open to the public," what with water taxi access and a 40-foot-wide waterfront esplanade between South Fifth and Grand Ferry Park. The Processing House will remain, but CPC Resources did not mention any other buildings that would be preserved. Efforts are under way to save the Domino Sugar sign, but the sign's building will likely be demolished. Though many groups would like more buildings preserved and more affordable housing, CPC Resources seems to have won over many; the advocacy group El Puente's Luis Acosta told AM New York, "They've really gone to every single community group and sat down. They've been an exception to the rule of developers who take a top-down approach and essentially tell the community what's going to happen after it's been decided." Curbed has photographs from the press conference. Photograph by Pabo76 on Flickr

Originally posted by jen from Gothamist Weekly Favorites, on July 25, 2007 3:48 PM

Hey! Did you know that OK Go has a Flickr feed?

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Rebecca's Pocket, on July 25, 2007 2:10 PM

To celebrate the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Badnewsbear and friends threw a party with what may not be the most intricately made cake but is one of the more unique ones. How often do the worlds of Harry Potter and lolcat speech combine? Not enough, not enough.

Originally posted by Robyn Lee from Serious Eats: Main, on July 25, 2007 1:40 PM

cyclingnews.com | Cycling News Flash for July 26, 2007: Rasmussen pulled out of Tour

CyclingNews reports that Rabobank has withdrawn Michael Rasmussen from the Tour, and that he will not take the start tomorrow.

CyclingNews suggests it could relate to a report by Italian TV commentator Davide Cassani, who claims to have seen Rasmussen training in the Dolomites on June 13th or 14th, while Rasmussen claims he was in Mexico for training.

DeRooy will not withdraw the entire team, but will allow the riders to choose to start the stage tomorrow.

Also:

VeloNews.com | News Flash: Rasmussen pulled out of Tour, fired by Rabobank

Adds that Rasmussen is also fired from the team.

iol Sport | Rasmussen kicked out of Tour de France

However the team has learnt that Rasmussen lied to them over where and what he was up to during the month of June when he was in fact in Italy and not in Mexico as he had told them.