Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Funding Type: Discretionary, Cooperative Agreement
Total Available: $16 Million
Award Ceiling: $1.5 Million
Deadline: 01.14.10
Eligibility: Unrestricted

Description:
The National Science Foundation (NSF) invites investigators at U.S. organizations to submit proposals to conduct research about the Arctic. Arctic research includes field and modeling studies and data analysis in and about the arctic region. The goal of the NSF Division of Arctic Sciences is to gain a better understanding of the Arctic’s physical, biological, geological, chemical, social and cultural processes, and the interactions of ocean, land, atmosphere, biological, and human systems in the Arctic. The Division of Arctic Sciences and other NSF programs support projects that contribute to the development of the next generation of researchers and scientific literacy for all ages through education, outreach, and broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Program representatives from OPP and other non-OPP NSF programs that support arctic research coordinate across NSF, including joint review and funding of arctic proposals and mutual support of special projects with high logistical costs.

The Art Institute of Chicago is showing works by Konstantin Grcic in a show entitled “Decisive Design” through 24 January 2010.  As the ARTIC website puts it:

“ This significant exhibition is the first in America to explore the work produced by German designer Konstantin Grcic, one of the most important industrial designers working today. Grcic is known for his logical designs, driven by an honesty of materials and an appropriateness of production methods, yet injected with an inventiveness and originality that set his work apart. Although his production continues to be characterized by simple and distinctive design solutions, Grcic has more recently harnessed an interest in new technologies and materials research—a shift in practice that has afforded him a progressively ambitious portfolio of furniture and product designs that are transforming the landscape of contemporary design.”

Take the time to blow through the Windy City (don’t forget your scarf and ear-muffs) and see for yourself.

Konstantin Grcic in Wikipedia (There is no article for him in english!! Shame on all you english speakers interested in product and/or industrial design!  But you all speak french anyway, right.) 

And here is Grcic’s own site.

designalog@live.fr

El número 1 del mundo

Por: Carlos Andrés Blanco

Bogotá se prepara para recibir al DJ número 1 del mundo en la escena electrónica. Como buena entrada al mes de diciembre, Tijs Verwest, conocido mundialmente como TIESTO, dará un espectacular concierto en el parque Jaime Duque a las afueras de la ciudad  el viernes 4 de diciembre de 2009.

Oriundo de Breda, Holanda; Tiesto aparece en la escena rave alrededor de 1985. Ámsterdam lo daría a conocer como el genio del Trance – Dance que aun sigue proyectando buenas cosechas.

SU PRONTUARIO

Según la revista “TheDJlist”; 2008 volvió a ser el año para este holandés como número 1 del mundo. Repite honores, pues en 2002, 2003 y 2004 estuvo siempre a la cabeza del Ranking mundial de la música electrónica. Con un  lema muy particular “I feel the energy from the crowd and I try to give it back, to create a unity.” (Siento la energía del público e intento devolvérsela para crear una unidad), Tiesto espera ver a Bogotá vestida de blanco para su concierto en honor a su “Electronic music for the peace”.

LA MEZCLA

Tijs Verwest afirma que además de pinchar discos, le gusta cocinar. Quizá el elemento de la mezcla define este particular hobbie. Como pionero del trance, Tiesto ha sobrepasado los límites de su género para condensar sonidos como el house y el techno, sonidos legendarios que le abrieron las puertas a la escena electrónica a principios de los 80´s.

BOGOTÁ ESTA LISTA

Cada DJ invitado representará uno de estos elementos (Tierra, Aire, Fuego y Agua). Descritos como un majestuoso show de performances y una increíble producción de visuales, luces, efectos especiales, pirotecnia y una increíble puesta en escena; el concierto con más de (120.000) vatios de sonido, hará que cada Rave explore en lo más profundo de sus sentidos.

Con un record de 9 horas seguidas pinchando en el “Tiesto in concert” de Holanda en 2004, Los fanáticos del Beat esperamos bailar hasta el amanecer con sus finas composiciones que lo definen hoy por hoy como el mejor del mundo. Tiesto será sin duda el concierto que cerrará con broche de oro la oleada de conciertos de primer nivel que presentó Bogotá durante el 2009.

Amigos les pedimos un poco paciencia porque pesa  bastante  el video, pero bien

vale la pena verlo. Es un viaje de campo  de geologia  a  la  antartida.  La idea es

reflexionar y admirar sobre la forma de hacer ciencia.Que lo disfruten. 911GEO!

Remember in September when we showed you that sketch of a mysterious new place? Back then we hinted that something BIG was coming.
Well I can tell you now that it’s getting closer – and I managed to find you this image that might add some fuel to the fire:

Not too much longer! Hey, have you built an Amulet yet? It might come in handy really soon…
-Zerosk8der Club Penguin Cheats Owner

Download FrostWire “Arctic Shield”

The newest FrostWire release “Arctic Shield” (version 4.18.5) has arrived.

By the request of our users the latest version adds some serious connection and anti-spam improvements.

FrostWire “Arctic Shield” is by far the most significant update of 2009 and we strongly recommend this update.

Refresh Connections

An entirely new tool that lets you Refresh Connections, this will retrieve a list of fresh and active ultra-peers to connect with when your application cannot find any initial ones is a true lifesaver for some.

FrostWire “Arctic Shield” has updated UPnP code for improved router/firewall interaction to fix possible bootstrapping issues.

Ready for your new 64-bit OS

FrostWire “Arctic Shield” is compatible with the latest operating systems Microsoft’s Windows 7 and with Apple’s Snow Leopard, while keeping backwards compatibility with older versions.

Spam Battle Continues

Nonetheless, the most significant improvement to the software comes in the form of updated FrostWire’s IP BlackList technology that helps to remove over 70% of spam and fake search results from showing up on your screen.

Your Pictures on the Splash Screen

FrostWire developers have also included a special functionality in this release that will display different user submitted Splash Screens every time FrostWire loads to showcase the creativity & involvement of our community.

Pictures of the FrostWire Stickers all over the world have been selected for many of the splash screens. We encourage everybody to get their set of free stickers and submit their own pictures for a chance of being featured on FrostWire loading screen on future updates.

If you have some pictures already, you can send them to contact [at] frostwire [dot] com.

We give attribution to the following photographers for the splash screens of 4.18.4: Nany Wilson, luis_fonseca2, xmarcelinaxx, Green_713, bigdogbee, Katay Santos, jacksonenterprize, Steven Blue and the FrostWire Team.

Here are the detailed release notes:

FrostWire Version 4.18.5 “Artic Shield” (November 2009 hotfix)
- Fixes two NPEs that was causing FrostWire to kill uploads. (related to httpcomponent/nio)
- Updates: License is upgraded from GPLv2 to GPLv3 to allow proper license compatibility with Apache Licensed components.

FrostWire “Arctic Shield” Version 4.18.4 (October-November 2009)

- New: “Tools > Refresh Connections”. A network of FrostWire Sentinels maintains a list of reliable nodes that can be used to bootstrap your connection.
- FrostWire IP BlackList technology updated to get rid of over 70% of spam and fakes (thanks Aaron.Walkhouse).
- Update: latest UPnP code merged from LimeWire Codebase for better connectivity.
- Update: Network core more efficient and stable thanks to the latest Apache HttpComponents (httpcore-4.0.1 and httpclient-4.0)
- Update: Random Splash Screens. Now showing different community submitted Splash Screens to spread the FrostWire culture.
- Update: The Chat Server is now a parameter on frostwire.props.
- Fix: Connection Doctor addresses more connection bootstrapping issues.

About FrostWire
FrostWire is a peer-to-peer file sharing program for the Gnutella and BitTorrent protocols. FrostWire is written in Java, and is a fork of LimeWire, another popular Gnutella client. Released under the GNU General Public License, FrostWire is free software.

Related Links:
FrostWire’s Website

Este mes la revista Brandlife ha publicado un artículo escrito por nuestra directora creativa, Raquel Rivera, y nuestro director de arte, Paco Fernández titulado: “Cadena de inspiración”

Esta semana he tenido con mi directora creativa, Raquel Rivera, un momento de inspiración creativa e intercambio de ideas realmente interesante. Todo partió de esta reflexión que leía hace poco en un artículo: la función del arte es inspirar y la del diseño/publicidad motivar.

Fue Raquel la que lamentó desde el principio que existan  ya pocas cosas capaces de sorprender en publicidad y señaló la intervención ambiental como algo que si lo está consiguiendo. Son, para ella, acciones que se recuerdan y que aunque impactan a menos gente cuentan con un componente de “boca  a boca” que se refuerza en los medios digitales. 

Nos dimos cuenta de  lo mucho que echaba de menos campañas realmente positivas, acciones capaces de motivar y hacer  vibrar a la gente sacándoles de su rutina, capaces de lo más importante: remover sus emociones. Casi de forma automática nos vino a la cabeza un ejemplo claro de esta reacción: las “Dance Parties” del metro y de la experiencia que es vivir a las 7 de la mañana como un par de personas empiezan a bailar con su mp3 y como poco a poco ves a todo el vagón bailando silenciosamente. En mi boca repetía una y otra vez  la palabra innovación y en mi mente resonaba de nuevo el Street Art como el verdadero líder de esta batalla: las pistolas de agua para pintar, o los glow grafitti con leds eran el ejemplo claro de que cada día puedes encontrar  nuevas formas de plasmar tu creatividad.

 ¿Y qué pasa entonces con los mensajes? Entendimos enseguida que no sólo vale con hacer intervenciones sorprendentes también tenemos que ser capaces de lanzar mensajes que impacten en las conciencias. De repente lo tuve claro: Como Sagmeister, esa era precisamente la filosofía del arte urbano. Reclamar la atención de la gente que vive acomodada en su mundo y hacerles  ver una realidad viva en su propio entorno. Ya no es sólo la gente lo que se mueve en la calle, son las ideas: entonces nos dimos cuenta que  habíamos entrado juntos en una  cadena de inspiración.

Por: Carlos Andrés Blanco

CRÓNICA:

Sólo 24 horas antes del concierto más esperado en mi vida, supe que vería a Depeche Mode más cerca de lo que creía. Ocho días antes del evento, decidí comprar la boleta para asegurarla y no tener sorpresas más adelante. Sin embargo, nunca pensé que solo una horas antes tendría la boleta VIP. Mario, uno de mis más viejos amigos que trabaja en Starcom, empresa de medios publicitarios a nivel mundial, resultó con una boleta extra a nombre de su empresa. Podría decir que salté sin pensarlo de General a VIP.

El día llegó… muy feliz por poder verlos, a las 2 y 30 de la tarde estaba en las inmediaciones del Parque Metropolitano Simón Bolívar de la ciudad de Bogotá. Con una boleta de General para vender, lo revendedores me ofrecían la mitad de lo que costaba.

Llegó Mario junto con su novia. Mientras hicieron fila, asumí el roll de revendedor. Por las extensas filas de fanáticos empecé a gritar “ ¡Vendo boleta general!”. Un fan me la compró en 100 mil pesos. Aunque esperaba poder cobrar un poco más me pareció lo justo ya que los revendedores la compraban a 70 mil pesos y las vendían a 120 mil.

Contento llegué a la fila donde se encontraba Mario y algunos compañeros del trabajo. La ansiedad fue tanta que tuvimos que comprar una botellita de Vodka Absolut. Tras caminar varios kilómetros llegamos con el trago. La fila se empezaba a mover y el trago empezaba a calentarnos y a calmar la euforia.

Alrededor de las 7 de la noche ya estábamos adentro. La emoción se notaba en la cara de cada seguidor de Depeche Mode. Camisetas, chaquetas, gorras alusivas al grupo merodearon todos los rincones del escenario plaza del Parque Simón Bolívar. Luego de relajarnos un poco sentados en el pasto, la banda telonera salió a calentar los ánimos. Aunque la banda pasó sin pena ni gloria, fue un llamado para poner en posición  la gente que aguardaba desde horas atrás y que aun no entraban.

Se acercaban las 9 de la noche y la gente chiflaba… querían ver a los depeches. A las 9 y 10 de la noche la pantalla proyectó el símbolo de la gira: DM. Se podía oler al grupo cerca del escenario. Con In chains Depeche Mode saludó a Colombia desde Bogotá. La gente gritaba y grababa desde sus celulares la increíble salida del grupo al escenario. La inconfundible voz de David Gahan retumbó en todo el parque. Yo estaba feliz.

El éxtasis se apoderó de mí. A pesar de estar cansado por la interminable fila, aun tenia cartuchos para quemar cantando y bailando. Canciones como Precius, Policy of true, Enjoy the silence, Behind the Wheel y por supuesto Personal Jesús hicieron bailar a 20 mil personas que tuvieron el privilegio de ver a la mítica Depeche Mode.

2 horas duró Depeche Mode cantando su repertorio. La elegancia de Gahan en su indumentaria se complementó con su magistral voz. El excéntrico Martin Gore, acompañó las notas de su guitarra en más de una ocasión con canciones muy suaves y profundas; y el  sobrio Andrew John Fletcher, marcó cada nota de su sintetizador como el solo lo sabe. Que gran concierto brindó D.M.

Al final del concierto y muy feliz salimos a celebrar a las zona rosa. Al son de rock and roll y whiskey culminó un 10 de octubre de 2009,  día que los exponentes del  synthpop y el new wave cautivaron por única vez a Colombia.

www.businessinsider.com

Arctic Ice Can Get A LOT Thicker. We were stunned to see the good news that arctic ice is thicker in 2009 than it was in 2008 and 2007. So does this mean that icecap melting is becoming less of an issue? The answer is: we probably don’t know.

Just as in finance, there’s this crazy phenomenon known as mean reversion, and as you can see, ice volume in 2009 snaps us right back to the longterm down trendline. And as you know, mean reversion can go a long way in both directions, so we could have several up years now… or not!

Yassine Ouhilal é o diretor desse filme que tem belas imagens. Todo filmado com uma Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Christian Wach, Cyrus Sutton, Matthew Whitehead, Patric Millin e Michel Jakobi é o resto da equipe.

Cinco surfistas, trinta e dois dias, um destino: Círculo Polar Ártico.

Até onde você iria para surfar uma onda nunca antes surfada?

This is beautiful…

http://oceanswavesbeaches.blogspot.com/2009/09/taking-surfing-to-ends-of-earth.html

News.Com.Au

ICE is expanding in much of Antarctica, contrary to the widespread public belief that global warming is melting the continental ice cap.
The results of ice-core drilling and sea ice monitoring indicate there is no large-scale melting of ice over most of Antarctica, although experts are concerned at ice losses on the continent’s western coast.

Antarctica has 90 per cent of the Earth’s ice and 80 per cent of its fresh water, The Australian reports. Extensive melting of Antarctic ice sheets would be required to raise sea levels substantially, and ice is melting in parts of west Antarctica. The destabilisation of the Wilkins ice shelf generated international headlines this month.

However, the picture is very different in east Antarctica, which includes the territory claimed by Australia.

East Antarctica is four times the size of west Antarctica and parts of it are cooling. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research report prepared for last week’s meeting of Antarctic Treaty nations in Washington noted the South Pole had shown “significant cooling in recent decades”.

Australian Antarctic Division glaciology program head Ian Allison said sea ice losses in west Antarctica over the past 30 years had been more than offset by increases in the Ross Sea region, just one sector of east Antarctica.

“Sea ice conditions have remained stable in Antarctica generally,” Dr Allison said.

The melting of sea ice – fast ice and pack ice – does not cause sea levels to rise because the ice is in the water. Sea levels may rise with losses from freshwater ice sheets on the polar caps. In Antarctica, these losses are in the form of icebergs calved from ice shelves formed by glacial movements on the mainland.

Last week, federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett said experts predicted sea level rises of up to 6m from Antarctic melting by 2100, but the worst case scenario foreshadowed by the SCAR report was a 1.25m rise.

Mr Garrett insisted global warming was causing ice losses throughout Antarctica. “I don’t think there’s any doubt it is contributing to what we’ve seen both on the Wilkins shelf and more generally in Antarctica,” he said.

Dr Allison said there was not any evidence of significant change in the mass of ice shelves in east Antarctica nor any indication that its ice cap was melting. “The only significant calvings in Antarctica have been in the west,” he said. And he cautioned that calvings of the magnitude seen recently in west Antarctica might not be unusual.

“Ice shelves in general have episodic carvings and there can be large icebergs breaking off – I’m talking 100km or 200km long – every 10 or 20 or 50 years.”

Ice core drilling in the fast ice off Australia’s Davis Station in East Antarctica by the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-Operative Research Centre shows that last year, the ice had a maximum thickness of 1.89m, its densest in 10 years. The average thickness of the ice at Davis since the 1950s is 1.67m.

A paper to be published soon by the British Antarctic Survey in the journal Geophysical Research Letters is expected to confirm that over the past 30 years, the area of sea ice around the continent has expanded.

Icebergs that have broken away from the Jacobshavn glacier in Greenland. Ashley Cooper / Corbis

I think that the people of the world must take heed to this.  Our earth is slowly losing because we aren’t being good stewards of our environment.  This article gives us some alarming information.  It won’t happen in my lifetime but it might in my Grandchildren’s lifetime.

Our right wing crazies just can’t understand, or don’t want to understand because it is something that may involve their pocketbooks.

Folks, I believe we are at a crossroad and need to act quickly.  There is already a poll out showing that 60% of voters will vote in 2010 for someone who will work to better the environment.

more @ Newsweek.com

Artic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications Report ist vor einigen Tagen erschienen.
Sollte man mal lesen.
Bye, Bye Human Race.

Have fun

Artic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications Report ist vor einigen Tagen erschienen.
Sollte man mal lesen.
Bye, Bye Human Race.

Have fun

Artic Climate Feedbacks: Global Implications Report ist vor einigen Tagen erschienen.
Sollte man mal lesen.
Bye, Bye Human Race.

Have fun

The outgoing leader of Greenpeace has admitted his organization’s recent claim that the Arctic Ice will disappear by 2030 was “a mistake.”
Greenpeace made the claim in a July 15 press release entitled “Urgent Action Needed As Arctic Ice Melts,” which said there will be an ice-free Arctic by 2030 because of global warming. Under close questioning by BBC reporter Stephen Sackur on the “Hardtalk” program, Gerd Leipold, the retiring leader of Greenpeace, said the claim was wrong.

Sackur said the claim was inaccurate on two fronts, pointing out that the Arctic ice is a mass of 1.6 million square kilometers with a thickness of 3 km in the middle, and that it had survived much warmer periods in history than the present.

The BBC reporter accused Leipold and Greenpeace of releasing “misleading information” and using “exaggeration and alarmism.”

Leipold’s admission that Greenpeace issued misleading information is a major embarrassment to the organization, which often has been accused of alarmism but has always insisted that it applies full scientific rigor in its global-warming pronouncements.

Although he admitted Greenpeace had released inaccurate but alarming information, Leipold defended the organization’s practice of “emotionalizing issues” in order to bring the public around to its way of thinking and alter public opinion.

Leipold said later in the BBC interview that there is an urgent need for the suppression of economic growth in the United States and around the world. He said annual growth rates of 3 percent to 8 percent cannot continue without serious consequences for the climate.”I don’t think it will be melting by 2030. … That may have been a mistake,” he said.

Scientists and Inuit Hunters are collaborating to find out more about another member of the collective in this NPR piece.  What I found interesting about this story was that both the tracking and hunting skills are used in the research. From the article:

“I remember it was pretty foggy, and there were whales out in front of the camp, and he threw his harpoon and set the tag right in the right spot, and we all screamed and clapped” says Laidre.

The real question is how much of the field collaboration gets translated into the final research article?