Adobe has released a free web-based version of their most popular image editing program, called Photoshop Express. The software allows for a number of fairly basic modifications, including cropping, exposure correction, saturation and white balance changes, and sharpening. One nice touch is that it does allow the conversion of images to black and white using [...]

You versus the lot:

What proportion of your income would you be willing to give up to stop yourself from dying instantly in 1 year’s time?
If you were certain to die in one year’s time, what proportion of your income would you be willing to give up to prevent all of humanity from becoming extinct at [...]

A new blog written by a former California energy commissioner chooses to discuss the fight against climate change as a ‘war.’ At one level, this reflects the silly American tendency to discuss non-military problems using military language: the War on Drugs, the War on Poverty, etc. At another, the choice reflects the serious disjoint between [...]

The Economics Focus in this week’s Economist makes some excellent points. Most importantly, it demonstrates the degree to which looking at national rates of GDP growth independently from national rates of population growth produces a misleading impression of what is really happening.
America and Australia usuallyhave the kind of economies that people understand to be growing [...]

Shai Agassi has a bold plan to transform personal transportation in Israel: electric cars built by Renault and Nissan using lithium-ion batteries from NEC. The crucial difference between this plan and those simply intended to encourage customers to buy individual electric vehicles is that Agassi’s company plans to provide battery infrastructure, in the form of [...]

I am amused and pleased to have played a role in organizing a hiking trip in Vancouver involving Emily; my friend, former classmate, and former flatmate Kai; his friend Verena; and my father. Vicarious social mountain climbing - the last resort of we flatland dwellers.
Actually, the whole thing was great fun, even from 4,808km away.
[Update: [...]