There is something I’ve always loved about a city with hardly anyone living in it.  I just recently blogged about China’s Ordos and before it, about others like it.  Urville, though, takes the cake because it exists entirely in the head of its chief architect, savant Gilles Trehin.  And he’s been drawing it for the last twenty years.

(io9 – again)

The “whole” story of A Wrinkle in Time presented as a single comic page. You’re welcome.

(And thank you, io9.)

I concur with Engadget on this one: this would make a fine iPad app!

My trusty new steed has just arrived – and was greeted by a completely unexpected snowstorm while I took delivery yesterday morning.  Driving and photo sessions have been scarce so far but I did grab some this morning since we made the last minute decision to postponed our Pittsburgh departure due to the (likely) nasty mountain roads.

I know there are probably innumberable reasons why the SARTRE autonomous road train could be considered complete anathema to the driver (note: not commuter), but I can’t help but being desirous of this technology right now.  Who hasn’t wished for a way to put the car on autopilot during a particularly tedious stretch of driving?  Imagine how even having just one SARTRE lane on our highways would provide a safe alternative to driving while getting drowsy and definitely eliminate traffic snarls on tourist filled roadways near beaches, arenas, etc.  An interesting answer to our country’s lack of acccessible – traditional – trains.

(Autoblog)

Odd topic, no?

Well, actually no as I’ve covered it once before.  At the time (March 2010) I was fresh off of watching a video clip that had infuriated me.  60 Minutes had interviewed several scientists who had been involved with the 1980s announcement by Fleischmann and Pons of their – several times now proven – findings with a room temperature fusion reaction.  The general consensus was that maybe, just maybe, the science actually worked and “oh, by the way” Fleischmann and Pons were perhaps the victims of some world class backstabbing.  The resigned look of both bitterness and “I freaking told you so” on Fleischmann’s face says everything.

But, looking back from where the field is now in 2012 does provide a little hope.  Dubbed “Low Energy Nuclear Reaction” or LENR now, cold fusion is bubbling back up to the mainstream.

I started hearing about LENR on some fringe-y sites here and there via the work of Dr. Andrea Rossi.  His E-Cat system caught my eye – and the eye of researchers, industrialists and politicians from Sweden to Massachusetts.  Skeptical myself, you can imagine my surprise when I started seeing it pop up in financial network reports.  And presidential candidate interviews.  And most recently in a ringing endorsement from NASA:

We could really use this one, Universe.  Please don’t let me down.

Prior to the show, I also attended Autoweek‘s Design Forum at the College for Creative Studies.  The event brought together auto industry and media players as well as car fans and, most interestingly, design students from the College.  I particularly enjoyed seeing the thesis projects set up next door, especially since I’d have gladly been enrolled in their program had I known about its existence years ago.  Of note to me as a technologist:  design display boards featured QR codes that delivered student details to the viewer’s phone.  With so many potential employers walking through, this stood out as extremely clever.  Another use to mention in my own workshops on the technology.

2012 has become the year of nautical tracking, it would seem:  my new favorite pastime is tracking the progress of Wallenius-Wilhelmsen ship Don Juan as it makes its way through the North Sea and eventually on to Nova Scotia, New York and Baltimore.  Why, you ask?  Because my new car is aboard and having its VIN allows me to do so!  The folks over at the Swedespeed Volvo forum have put together a comprehensive thread on the subject of tracking custom orders.

You’d better believe I’ll be checking in with the Southampton radar information when it will be catching a view of Don Juan on Sunday.  As I said to Kate, GPS and the internet would have made the pirate’s life so much easier…