Eyes in the Sky and on Your Desktop

With Google Earth, satellite images become an activist’s ally

September/October 2007

LATE IN 2005, REBECCA MOORE WAS GIVING a presentation to a community group concerned about proposed logging in the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Francisco. In the darkened room, a large screen displayed an image of Earth floating serenely in space.

Moore touched a key on her computer, and the planet expanded to fill the screen. As the view zoomed closer still, the more than 300 audience members were able to make out the California coastline, then their own region. The landscape tilted, and the flat imagery leaped up to form mountains and valleys. Finally, they could see detailed three-dimensional satellite images of the redwood-covered ridges above their homes. (more…)

Posted in Magazines, Sierra

The Flavour of Cool

Jul 26th 2007

Can e-mail newsletters recommending cultural events in the world’s big cities maintain their credibility as they grow?

THIS Monday in New York, those so inclined could have toured Brooklyn’s pizzerias, sweated to “outer-planetary” dub or attended a modern recasting of “Eurydice”. But which was worth your time? Deciding what to do in any big city can be difficult, making it tempting to stay in and catch up on e-mail instead. But that might in fact be the answer. Two companies—Flavorpill in America and le cool in Europe, acting separately—publish free, weekly e-mails that narrow the torrent down to the two dozen very best events. (more…)

Posted in Magazines, The Economist

The Dirty Water Underground

May 31, 2007

LAURA ALLEN’S modest gray house in the Oakland flatlands would give a building inspector nightmares. Jerry-built pipes protrude at odd angles from the back and sides of the nearly century-old house, running into a cascading series of bathtubs filled with gravel and cattails. White PVC pipe, buckets, milk crates and hoses are strewn about the lot. Inside, there is mysterious – and illegal – plumbing in every room. (more…)

Posted in New York Times, Newspapers