Buy less

Although I admire its good intentions, I have to say that in terms of efficacy and overall business model, I'm not a big fan of (RED). Worldchanging and SSI made some particularly strong critiques in fall 2006... I would love to see some more recent and more complete data.

Today, one of my clients showed me this serious parody site, which makes some of the same points a bit more provocatively.

As advertised: Rainbows End

While fighting the latest cold this week, I finally got around to reading Vernor Vinge's sci-fi novel Rainbows End. It in every way lived up to its hype. A seamless and sophisticated look at the world of 2025, and where current technology and social media trends might be heading. Thankfully, it's also a well-written and engaging story.

Viral, sticky, good

I'm loving this short post from Nina Simon at Museum 2.0, on the differences between viral, sticky, and good. (As blogged by Satchmo Prototype at The Daily Graze.)

GreenDimes

Here's an easy and cheap way to stop junk mail, save some trees, plant some more, and protect yourself against identity theft. (As blogged by Adam at TerraBlog.)

Conversations with Other Women

I saw a terrific movie last night. "Conversations with Other Women" is a poignant modern love story in the style of "Before Sunset" and "Lost in Translation," and very much in the same league.

The director Hans Canosa uses split-screens to follow each character's separate point of view. The gimmick works perfectly... adding immediacy and depth, and in the Canosa's words, creating the "holy grail" of a truly unique love scene.

Watch the movie, then check out the director's profile on Apple.com.

HP redesigns ink & toner package to reduce greenhouse emissions

A good example of a press release quantifying how lighter, recycled packaging can reduce a company's carbon footprint.

Cukoo for BumpTop

Mark Wallace at 3pointD just posted this YouTube clip of BumpTop, a new GUI desktop prototype that preserves the human logic of messy-desk organizing systems.

I started out thinking that the interface was just cute, but half-way through the video, I started to see its real value.

Steve Jobs: Thoughts on music

A short essay from Steve Jobs on the future of DRM.

Powerful people can't draw a reversed "E" on their foreheads

An intriguing psychological experiment about the (potentially inverse) relationship between power and empathy. As blogged by collision detection.

Earthify mashup

A cool new tool that maps Craigslist postings on Google Earth.

Amoeba's Big Green Box

Local music mega super community store Amoeba Records has introduced a Big Green Box at its Hollywood store where customers can turn in e-waste for recycling seven days a week. With other innovations like selling CFL lightbulbs along with CDs and DVDs, Amoeba is "turning out to be a huge independent music store with a big green heart" (via Worldchanging).

Tea with jam, jam and bread

My singing teacher went to voice instruction bootcamp in LA last month, and the tips he came back with have been pure gold. The program he attended was with Lisa Popeil, who has a lecture series and DVDs that very, very quickly convey how to support the voice, add emotion and color, and sing appropriately for many different genres: classical, r&b, country, pop, etc.

Okay, so there are a million other books and programs out there, but my teacher and I agree that I've made as much progress in the past two weeks as the past six months. Definitely check out Lisa's program if you're interested in serenading your sweetheart or knocking 'em dead at karaoke.