Projo Subterranean Homepage News

Bottom-up journalism from the pros: News, tech and culture by Sheila Lennon

July 2008 Archives


Gilberto Gil: Brazil's Minister of Culture quits his day job; Video: Montreux jazz fest

gil_montreux.jpg 11:57 AM Thu, Jul 31, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

AP Gilberto Gil, until yesterday Brazil's Minister of Culture, at the Montreux, Switzerland, Jazz Festival earlier this month. When Gilberto Gil became his country's Minister of Culture in 2003, the gig must have been more than sweet to the......

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R.I.P. Jeff Thomas, a Providence original

jeffthomas.jpg 9:08 AM Thu, Jul 31, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Pajama man: His death was announced on Buddy Cianci's radio show -- of natural causes, in his sleep, a quiet, conventional end which no one would have predicted. Jeff Thomas always wore pajama bottoms, and usually kid's pajamas on his......

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Survey seeks raw data about we who make Web sites

i-took-the-2008-survey.gif 9:49 PM Wed, Jul 30, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

The Survey for People Who Make Websites, 2008 at A List Apart: ...nobody bothered to conduct a serious inquiry into the working conditions of people who make websites until A List Apart launched its first survey in 2007. Last year......

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Spokane paper names thousands of online buyers of phony degrees

6:17 AM Wed, Jul 30, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Buyers of bogus degrees named: The Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman-Review outs the customers of who bought degrees from one of these nonexistent online universities and high schools such as Saint Regis University, or fake degrees from real schools. Here's the searchable......

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Excerpt: Arthur C. Clarke's upcoming, and last, sci-fi novel

10:29 AM Tue, Jul 29, 2008 | | Comments (1)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

The Last Theorem by Arthur C Clarke and Frederik Pohl. The Telegraph publishes an excerpt from Arthur C Clarke's final book of science fiction, written with Frederik Pohl, available August 5. Its topic: the first Lunar Olympics -- the one-sixth......

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Which classic book are you ashamed to admit you have never read?

1:21 AM Tue, Jul 29, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Great Unread Books: Which classic are you ashamed to admit you have never read? The Telegraph (UK) asked the question with a camera running. Respectable authors made shameful confessions at England's Ways With Words festival; watch them below. Now it's......

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'12 Foods You Don't Have to Buy Organic' -- and one you might want to

12:04 AM Tue, Jul 29, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

12 Foods You Don't Have to Buy Organic Dr. Andrew Weil says, "Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories tested, the following twelve foods do not have to be organic. These had the lowest pesticide load, and consequently are......

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Cuil launches: Ex-Googlers take a whack at idea-based search

cuil_format.jpg 9:04 AM Mon, Jul 28, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Later: I just noticed that Cuil's result for "cuil" are all about Ireland. New search engine Cuil (pronounced "cool") launched last night, the brainchild of ex-Google employees. From the info page, Rather than rely on superficial popularity metrics, Cuil searches......

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Art: NYC streets, '30s show in Ottawa, Paris in the '50s

margnac_detail.jpg 4:34 PM Sun, Jul 27, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Sometimes I'm out of words, just want to look at good pictures. From right now, from back when. Here are today's... A detail from a mural near the docks in Red Hook (Brooklyn) by Jake Dobkin (blog: Bluejake). His Flickr......

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Photos: Guinea pig fest, Jupiter movie, Beijing's Olympics topiary gardens

beijing_olympic_garden_21b.gif 8:28 AM Sat, Jul 26, 2008 | | Comments (1)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Guinea pig festival in Peru The Telegraph (UK) offers eight photos of guinea pigs -- three in a fashion show (held by women in the colorful costumes of the Andes), one of them eating corn on the cob, and......

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Beating back ads that pay ISPs to track your Web habits

7:24 AM Sat, Jul 26, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

I'm late with this, but it's still worth putting out there. Naked habits: From FCC hearing: disagreement over the "broadband of tomorrow" at Ars Technica July 21: Apart from AT&T's contention that building out network capacity to meet ongoing demand......

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'Last Lecture' author Randy Pausch dies of cancer

12:27 PM Fri, Jul 25, 2008 | | Comments (1)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Randy Pausch, noted CMU prof, succumbs to cancer. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor whose final lecture inspired millions, died early today in Virginia of pancreatic cancer. Dr. Pausch, 47, who turned the lecture into......

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Weekend mp3s: Led Zep '75 live

ledzep75.jpg 11:45 AM Fri, Jul 25, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Led Zeppelin: The Conspiracy Of Silence, Live at Sports Arena, San Diego, March 14, 1975. For decades after the breakup of Led Zeppelin, fans were led to believe there was nothing left in the vaults worthy of release. Then in......

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Blogger: 'Providence is partly responsible for the food problem in World'

4:33 PM Thu, Jul 24, 2008 | | Comments (4)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Providence, Rhode Island is partly responsible for the food problem in World.. So writes blogger "Raag," of Blacksburg, Va., after a trip to Providence for a conference. Here's a bit of it: ...Any restaurant I went to served huge amount......

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Conor Oberst's next album streaming free now

conor_oberst.jpg 9:00 AM Thu, Jul 24, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band: Mr. Bright Eyes is set to release an eponymously titled (i.e., just his name) album. It's all streaming at that link. Or you can preorder it on CD for $13, or on......

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Photo: Rain from the deck

rainpic.jpg 10:08 PM Wed, Jul 23, 2008 | | Comments (2)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

More storms, tropical rain on the porch's canvas roof. The view from the deck, with morning glories.......

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No 'citizen medicine' here: Medpedia preview launches

11:15 AM Wed, Jul 23, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Medpedia, a medical version of wikipedia where only medical professionals may create and edit pages, launched in preview (1,000 pages) today. Full launch is planned for year's end. L.A. Times: Medpedia Project aims to create an online encyclopedia of health......

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Going solar: One homeowner's report; Mozilla CEO says...

solarhouse.jpg 11:58 PM Tue, Jul 22, 2008 | | Comments (1)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Loyd Case's Sunnyvale, Calif., house with new solar panels. Going Solar: At ExtremeTech, Loyd Case, back in January, decided to replace much of his $4,400 annual electric bill -- he has lots of computers -- with solar panels. By......

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Open Source Food: Where taste beats beauty; 'Mountain Stage'

jellybeans.jpg 9:30 AM Tue, Jul 22, 2008 | | Comments (2)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Food stylists are folks who make food look wonderful for photography. (It may not all really be food -- shaving cream won't deflate like whipped cream, and glycerin or varnish can make fruit sparkle,) At international recipe-sharing site Open......

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After the lightning strike, we're mostly unscathed

deckview_560.jpg 1:48 AM Mon, Jul 21, 2008 | | Comments (2)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Friday night: Close call. The view from the porch was a horizontal treetop with 9-foot-tall branches. Sunday: What's left where it landed is less than half as long as the Scotch pine branch that fell. After Friday night's lightning......

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James Brown's earthly possessions auctioned

james_brown.jpg 3:30 PM Sat, Jul 19, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

The James Brown Collection was auctioned Thursday at Christie's in New York, fetching $857,688 (or $857,562, depending on where you see it on that site). (London) Times Online: Godfather of Sold: James Brown auction raises $850,000. "His estate has been......

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Lightning crashes a tree in our yard

chopped.jpg 10:19 AM Sat, Jul 19, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

I was on our back screen porch when the storm came, sudden, strong and hard, shortly after 9 p.m. Friday night. I heard a way-too-loud crack and bolted, instinctively retreating back to the kitchen without stopping to think. Our......

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Springsteen '08, '69 Who and cool drinks for a stinker of a day

summer+drinks+01.jpg 12:03 AM Fri, Jul 18, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Hot and humid today, highs in the mid-90s. It may be too hot to type later, and it's already too hot to think. Let's drink icy coolers and listen to tunes. Tutti Frutti Punch at Ohio.com (Sipping just got a......

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From a whodunit, a recipe for Jansson's Temptation

janssonstemptation.jpg 6:14 AM Thu, Jul 17, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

I mentioned last week that my vacation reading included a translated-from-Swedish mystery, Detective Inspector Huss. Irene Huss has two teenage daughters, a chef husband and a band of colorful colleagues. It's well written, with lots of good dialogue moving the......

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JibJab's newest political satire sings a Dylan tune

9:20 AM Wed, Jul 16, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

JibJab's It's Time for Some Campaignin' has a catchy tune -- Dylan's The Times They Are A'Changin'. There is no other resemblance.......

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Free Music Archive; Alt-energy news; What it's like to be 530 lbs.

11:52 AM Tue, Jul 15, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

WFMU, best known for its Beware of the Blog blog, has announced that it will be launching a Free Music Archive funded by a grant from the New York State Music Fund: Coming soon: an online digital library of music......

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Blogs upgrade: Behind the scenes

10:10 AM Mon, Jul 14, 2008 | | Comments (10)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

We're finally finished converting the active projo blogs to Movable Type 4.12, a labor that began months ago and finally bore fruit this morning when the flagship Projo 7 to 7 News Blog started publishing in the new templates. The......

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SoundSession ends; Associated colors; Dissecting music

parade_33.jpg 8:17 AM Sun, Jul 13, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Journal photo / Ruben W. Perez Providence storyteller Len Cabral and his wife Judy dance last night to the music of the Cape Verdean Allstars at WaterPlace park, part of the Black Rep's Providence SoundSession '08. The fifth annual......

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There's a watertrickle at the Grist Mill

grist1.jpg 3:07 AM Fri, Jul 11, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Photo / Sheila Lennon Click photo for larger image The waterfall at the Old Grist Mill Tavern in Seekonk, Mass., is often a torrent coming off the pond, with white water roiling below. Yesterday, it was just a couple......

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Watermelon feta salad is the hot new cool dish

tomatosalad.jpg 11:25 AM Thu, Jul 10, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Watermelon Salad with Feta or Cotija Recipe at Simply Recipes. I'm with Elise here: Call me unadventurous, but I had never even heard of a watermelon feta salad before versions of it started popping up on food blogs everywhere.......

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FISA vote: Netroots to aim cash against Dems who OK'd wiretap bill

12:40 PM Wed, Jul 09, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Live blogging the Senate FISA vote today (Update: final vote 69 aye -28 nay. Passed. Barack Obama (and Sheldon Whitehouse) voted for it, Hillary Clinton (and Jack Reed) voted against it -- the netroots seem to have picked the wrong......

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Google's Lively 3-D chat: More than a 'Second Life' knockoff, if it wants to be

elgan_lively.jpg 12:46 AM Wed, Jul 09, 2008 | | Comments (1)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Interactive 3-D chat room created using Google's new Lively site by tech writer Mike Elgan. Google's new Lively offers virtual chatrooms on the Web, launched yesterday as a teenspace but perhaps born to host virtual meetings and small press......

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Good summer books

huss.jpg 2:30 AM Tue, Jul 08, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Summer Books Season. Back in May, the lovely Worth Reading blog began compiling links to summer reading lists, and it's grown quite large. Now that I'm on vacation, I'm interested. You can check the R.I. libraries catalogue online to see......

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The end of TV; Veggie hysteria; Tool: Is this site down? Transparent canoe

jalapeno.jpg 1:11 AM Mon, Jul 07, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

I'm on vacation, living the timeless life. These caught my eye: TV picture is bad: What happens after TV's mainframe era ends next February? Linux Journal Senior Editor Doc Searls calls the reassuring government messages about the switch to digital......

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G8 blogging; Cliffhangers; Red wine tames red meat; Free mp3s: Crenshaw

rondax.jpg 5:30 AM Sat, Jul 05, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

AP Protesting members of the internation relief group Oxfam portraying Group of Eight leaders belt out karaoke tunes at Sapporo, northern Japan, on Saturday, July 5, 2008. The G8 leaders, representing the U.S., Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy......

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Born July 4, a reader remembers birthdays in a wilder R.I.

fireworks_4th_425.jpg 1:55 AM Fri, Jul 04, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

AP Last night in Addison, Texas. Email from a longtime reader: Sheila, Happy Birthday!! And many more!! As I've mentioned before, my birthday is the 4th. That makes you 1 day older... and wiser (we won't worry about years).......

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Happy birthday...

9:13 AM Thu, Jul 03, 2008 | | Comments (2)
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Me today, America tomorrow. Some of my earliest memories involve sparklers, and fireworks in the sky as everybody celebrated with me. We're starting the party with three generations heading for a South County beach. We'll figure out which one......

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Hyper-realist sculpture startles with scale

rm01.jpg 1:12 AM Wed, Jul 02, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

Ron Mueck: Hyper-Realist Sculptor at paintalicious. Startling is good, gets you off center. More photos and comments at the link.......

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Unfortunate 4th Of July cards; fireworks in Pawtucket

patriotcard1.jpg 9:35 AM Tue, Jul 01, 2008 | | Write a comment
By Sheila Lennon    Email

However you got here, this is not my current blog. That's here, at shenews.projo.com. Let me know how you ended up here, please, with the email link on any blog entry there. See you on on the new site. The......

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