1. Get some Teneues cards (1, 2, 3) with Hadley’s art. As well as making great correspondence cards, they’re great for decorating your Filofax
2. Get a punch (use the metal one; the portable one requires some serious pressure (read: stepping) to get it to work), and align the art.

   

3. Insert and you’re done. No need to even resize or trim the card down!

   

I’ve spent a lot of time gathering bags (as my family will attest), to fill some odd need to carry things. In the end, I’ve realized multi-use (when possible) and lightness as major factors in gearing up for the road. I want a bag that’s lightweight, flexible, and offers smart storage.

The North Face Solaris 40

• 22″ x 13″ x 11″ (56 cm x 34 cm x 27 cm)
• 2450 in3 (40 liters)
• 3 lbs. 2 oz.

This seems large, but for a day pack, I love the size; it’s large enough for a long haul or short trip, but much more compact than the larger internal-frame back-country top-loaders. Not appearing here is the highly-adjustable, fully padded hip belt, which is the ideal place on which to rest your carry weight. I know not why this particular one I got has orange highlights, and not the typical all-black treatment like the typical North Face black colorway.

The neat thing about this particular pack is its bottom compartment, which allows for myriad items such as a charger, and other things that can be nudged around a bit, but separated by a trampoline (two clasps hold the divider in place). This area was designed for sleeping bags and the like. Though there’s plenty of room in the main compartment for a few days’ worth of clothes, footwear, and other miscellany for a tropical to semi-tropical environment, I don’t need much more than this.

Within this compartment, I store other goodies, like an extra foldable bag, a first aid kit, and some technical tools and gear. Some of this I assume can be bumped around a little better than say, delicate camera equipment and other precious goods. A softcover book would probably be perfect here. More things can certainly fit in here, so keep in mind that if you were going to utilize this area, I recommend keeping few items grouped together for better visibility and retrieval.

The neatest gear I carry may have to be the Solio Magnesium battery/charger, which conveniently takes iGo tips. Click on the images for more info on flickr. The cool thing about the charger is that it can be charged from the Sun for free, or plugged into the grid to be charged like a battery. It’s rated to give an iPod a full couple of charges. Another neat aspect as mentioned before is its ability to use iGo tips, which probably has the largest market share of universal chargers for multiple accessories and small electronic devices, such as iPods, phones, and the like. The USB adapter just makes it that much more compatible with USB-based chargers. The only drawback is that it doesn’t charge custom batteries from camera manufacturers, which means adding weight with another charger or packing extra batteries.

You can see a lot more in my flickr photostream, and read detailed info in the notes I’ve taken.

Overall, there’s a good sense of balance and my back thanks me for not carrying a shoulder bag every day with a backpack. As a bonus, the compartments are ideally placed for my usage, and I can find everything very quickly. Especially for the day, getting to and from the office with lunches and variable items is a lot easier with a high-capacity bag. It’s not Prada, so fashionistas need not apply. But it’s not from a 1980s outdoors catalog either, so while the styling is high-tech, it’s not overly, and tastelessly outdoorsy either.

They say having a full spectrum of light during the cold Winter months helps keep you from a spiraling descent of agony, especially now that you can’t get to Meadows, although that’s changing relatively quickly.
Pass the nights with the warm glow of the sun with this jar from Suck UK. Find from Cool Hunting.

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Whew!

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junkscience.com == junkpolitics

Proponents vary far and wide, but the most touted website on global warming has to be this one. This site claims to debunk the so-called myths of global warming, including absolving chemical companies of restricted DDT use, lead usage, and other chemicals:
http://www.junkscience.com/

On further inspection though, you find out that most of the “sources” of information are clearly Right-leaning organizations like Fox News, and tabloid-esque journals like the New York Sun.

It gets juicier.

Stephen Milloy, the creator of the site junkscience.com, and his organization, the TASCC, has had direct ties to the tobacco and petrochemical industries, as well as other nefarious corporations, continues to perpetuate their misleading media strategy via the junkscience website.

Steven Milloy is founder and president of Citizens for the Integrity of Science, an organization housed at his home address in Potomac, Maryland. Milloy is also executive director of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), which is run by a division of Grey Advertising called APCO. TASCC is funded by Dow Chemical, Exxon, the National Pest Control Association, Amoco, Lorillard, Occidental Petroleum, Phillip Morris (Grey’s largest client), W.R. Grace and other corporations interested in discrediting epidemiological and toxicological studies contrary to their interests, which Milloy attacks on a website called JunkScience.com. Milloy is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and a columnist for FoxNews.com.

Further, monied interests fund his organization, surely with the intent to debunk any problems that may arise from man-made chemicals and industry waste.

The IRS forms do not list the donors for TASSC, but ExxonMobil reports donating $40,000 to TASSC between 2000 and 2003. The oil company also contributed $50,000 to the Free Enterprise Action Institute, another nonprofit registered at Milloy’s home address. Through the Free Enterprise Education Institute, Milloy publishes CSRWatch.com, which attacks corporations for caving in to the demands of environmental groups. At CSRWatch.com, Milloy also advertises the Free Enterprise Action Fund, which “seeks to provide investors with a financial return while educating and persuading companies to focus on increasing shareholder value and profits rather than trying to appease outside activists.” The fund’s two largest investments are in General Electric and ExxonMobil, and the prospectus lists Milloy as the owner and controller.

Surely, one could conclude that the issue of global warming, whether real or not, is being belayed by industry giants to prevent any pattern of thinking that pollution could indeed, have a detrimental effect. Because, if it were true, they would be losing billions of dollars.

If there ever was a more apropos name, this would be it. Milloy and his polluting cronies are not after your health.

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Still photography flashlight (torchlight) animations. Neeto!

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As a paean to the old adage goes: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… too much.

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Oh well. At least it looks pretty, and gives all excuses to make hot chocolate!

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