Can we do more with trees in streets?

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3 August 2012
2 min read
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This street in Melbourne’s Sunshine West (first exhibit) would look a lot more attractive if it had trees like this street in Melbourne’s north-east.

Some residents and local authorities think trees are too much trouble. They require attention to get started and are vulnerable to vandalism in their early years. Their roots interfere with services and foundations; their branches snag power lines; and their leaves, bark and seeds clog gutters.

Certain species drop death-sized branches from time to time. Natives perform well in drought conditions but block sunlight to houses in winter. In established areas with narrow streets new plantings will sometimes be at the expense of parking spaces.

However the benefits of trees far exceed their cost. Urban designer Dan Burden reckons it costs between $250 and $600 in the US to establish a tree over three years, but the direct benefits over its lifetime exceed $90,000 (excluding aesthetic benefits).

The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation estimates each mature tree removes around half a tonne of carbon dioxide and about 100 kg of pollutants from the air each year. Trees can lower home and vehicle cooling costs, improve residential amenity, and increase property values — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Welcome to Qantas, please hold – for 15 hours

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3 August 2012
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In Business, Technology
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How long is too long to wait on hold? Thirty minutes? One hour? Try 15 hours, 40 minutes and one second.

That’s how long Adelaide businessman Andrew Kahn waited on hold on his mobile for Qantas from Wednesday night to yesterday morning — and his call was never answered.

Mr Kahn phoned Qantas at 7.22pm on Wednesday, trying to confirm his travel arrangements for a trip to New York on Sunday. He finally hung up at 11.01am yesterday, not having spoken to anyone. Why?

I hung up in the end simply because I had had enough, he told The Age.

But why wait so long? Well, the recorded message said someone would be with him as soon as possible — I wanted to find out what exactly they meant would be as soon as possible. And after a certain time, he did not want to give up his spot in the queue. The time on hold would easily allow for a flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Single-Step Slippers Made of One Shoelace & Strip of Felt

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3 August 2012
49 second read
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In Craft
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When you strip it down, what more does a foot enclosure really need aside from a single stretch of material and thread to tie it all together. That is the idea behind this ultra-minimalist student design.

Gaspard Tiné-Berès made this flat-pack marvels while studying at the Royal College of Art. They assemble in a simple set of motions, after shipping in the most compact way footwear has ever been mailed — via WebUrbanist

Bill would force patent trolls to pay defendants’ legal bills

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3 August 2012
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In Business, Politics, Rights
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A new bill introduced in the House of Representatives attempts to deter frivolous patent litigation by forcing unsuccessful patent plaintiffs to cover defendants’ legal costs. Introduced by Rep Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and co-sponsored by Rep Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes (SHIELD) Act is limited to patents related to computer hardware and software.

Patent trolls don’t create new technology and they don’t create American jobs, DeFazio said in a news release. They pad their pockets by buying patents on products they didn’t create and then suing the innovators who did the hard work and created the product.

While DeFazio portrays the SHIELD Act as anti-troll legislation, its provisions don’t seem to be limited to non-practicing entities. Any plantiff who a court finds did not have a reasonable likelihood of succeeding could be on the hook for his opponent’s legal bills, regardless of whether the plaintiff is using the technology in question — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Expat Shield VPN Delivers UK IP Addresses

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3 August 2012
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In Technology
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NBC has absolutely botched the coverage of the Olympics. As much as it’s possible to achieve universal agreement on anything, it seems that tape-delayed coverage and the inclusion of Ryan Seacrest have combined to accomplish the impossible. Unfortunately, for law abiding Americans who choose not to or are not aware of how to view illegal online streaming coverage, there would seem to be few other options for enjoying the once-every-four-years spectacle.

Fortunately, AnchorFree, maker of the popular traveller’s VPN (Virtual Private Network) HotSpot Shield offers another solution. The company’s little discussed niche VPN product Expat Shield gives users a UK-based IP address: BOOM, live streaming BBC coverage of the Olympics in all its suspense-filled, NBC-free glory — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Human Teeth as Hard as Shark Teeth

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3 August 2012
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In Science, Wildlife
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Even though your teeth are largely composed of a mineral softer than that found in sharks, new tests reported in the Journal of Structural Biology suggest that they’re just as tough. In sharks, the material coating the teeth is largely composed of fluoroapatite, a fluoridated phosphate mineral that in its pure form is harder than the hydroxyapatite found in the enamel of human teeth. But by pressing tiny metallic pyramids into the surfaces of teeth from a shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus, shown) and a tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), researchers found that the enameloid coating on shark teeth is no harder than that of the enamel on a human wisdom tooth. The teeth are, in fact, of comparable hardness because their surfaces aren’t pure mineral but instead are made of mineral crystals bound together with proteins so that the material doesn’t shatter under a sudden impact — via redwolf.newsvine.com

M53 Bronze / Lum-Tec

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2 August 2012
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In Design
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The M53 Bronze is similar to others in the M line — with the biggest exception to that being the CuSn8 case, which should develop a wonderful patina over time. This watch also has some great vintage feel to it. The dial and hands are black, and on top of that, you have eight layers of their vintage lume.

This means two things — one, you’ve got an almost aged look to the lume right of the bat. Second, with eight layers, you’re going to have a nice glow coming from your wrist when it gets dark — via Wrist Watch Review

Twitter suspends British journalist critical of NBC’s Olympics coverage

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31 July 2012
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In Rights, Technology
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Twitter has brought down a hail of critical tweeting on its own head by suspending the account of a British newspaper’s Los Angeles correspondent following his acerbic reporting of NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.

The social media network hummed with the indignation of thousands of its users after the Twitter feed of Guy Adams of the Independent disappeared. The paper’s deputy editor, Archie Bland, confirmed the suspension, calling it heavy-handed.

NBC said it had complained to Twitter after Adams published the email address of one of its senior bosses. We filed a complaint with Twitter because a user tweeted the personal information of one of our executives. According to Twitter, this is a violation of their privacy policy. Twitter alone levies discipline.

Rachael Horwitz, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco-based firm, confirmed that it does not actively monitor users’ accounts, and added that it was company policy not to comment on individual users — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Quality of journalism in Australia deemed average or poor

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31 July 2012
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In Business
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At one of the most turbulent times in the history of the newspaper industry, the Media Alliance has released a report that finds publishers struggling to maintain editorial quality as resources and staff dwindle.

Billed as the most detailed report of its kind ever carried out in Australia, the Journalism at the Speed of Bytes is a survey of 100 editors, deputy editors and senior editorial staff from the major Australian metropolitan and national newspapers.

Sixty-two per cent of those asked said the most difficult challenge they face is coping with tighter resources, while 56% said it was proving difficult to keep staff motivated.

And this is impacting on the quality of journalism in Australia, the report found.

Sixty-two per cent of respondents said that the quality of newspaper journalism in Australia was average or poor. Only 34% said it was excellent.

Two-thirds of respondents described the quality of online journalism in Australia as average or poor while only 14% said it as excellent.

The survey follows in the wake of troubles at Australia’s top newspapers, which have claimed 1,500 jobs, according to the Alliance.

The report also found that journalists are slow to embrace digital techniques — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Jardim America House / Isay Weinfeld

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31 July 2012
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In Design
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Brazilian architect Isay Weinfeld created this elegant house in the leafy neighbourhood of Jardim America, in São Paulo.

He was engaged by a young couple who are collectors of art, who wanted a spacious, bright and informal atmosphere where they could raise three energetic children and enjoy their art collection too.

The result is a cheerful family home in the Yucatan jungle — via Home Design Find

Sword-wielding knights rob medieval festival

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31 July 2012
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In Weird
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A gang of thieves dressed as knights and armed with a sword and an axe robbed the organisers of a medieval festival in north-east France and made off with 20,000 euros ($25,000), police said.

The theft took place in the early hours of Monday as organisers were counting revenues from the festival in Bitche, near France’s border with Germany, a spokesman for regional police in Lorraine said — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Ann Pettway jailed for 12 years in New York baby kidnap

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31 July 2012
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A US woman who stole a baby from a New York City hospital in 1987 and raised the child as her own has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Pettway, 51, was arrested last year after the victim, Carlina White, discovered she had been kidnapped.

She pleaded guilty in February to kidnapping the three-week-old Ms White from hospital.

Prosecutors increased their recommended sentence to 20 years, saying they had uncovered new facts about the case.

They specifically challenged the defence’s contention that Pettway had provided a stable, loving and happy home, for Ms White for 23 years. She was raised as Nejdra Nance in Connecticut and later in Georgia.

Pettway was convicted of five crimes while Ms White was in her custody, according to a probation department, and had used cocaine from 1983 to 2005.

Ms White’s biological mother, Joy White, also told probation officers that her daughter told her that Pettway had once hit her with a shoe, leaving an imprint on her face — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Pudu Fawn / Bristol Zoo Gardens

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31 July 2012
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A baby Pudu, the world’s smallest species of deer, recently made his debut at the UK’s Bristol Zoo Gardens.

This male Pudu was born 6 May and has recently ventured out into his paddock for the first time.

The fawn weighed only about 1kg at birth. At one month, he weighed only 1.8kg — about half the weight of a newborn human baby! The tiny youngster is part of an international conservation breeding program. As with all Pudu fawns, he has distinctive white spotted markings on his back which help to camouflage him from predators — via ZooBorns

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