Blog: April 2005.

Earth Day 2005.

Thirty-five years of celebrating and fighting for our fragile biosphere.

Earth Day began thirty-five years ago as an environmental protest to help save our planet by forcing issues to be dealt with by our government. Ultimately, this first protest led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the introduction of the Clean Air, the Clean Water and the Endangered Species Acts. Earth Day has since spread worldwide and helped influence the United Nations to hold the Earth Summit in 1992, beginning steps in the right direction.

Thirty-five years later, today is a day to celebrate the planet; to take part in a local event to clean up a park; go for a walk around a lake and enjoy the outdoors; and much more. Use this day to realize the full potential of the Earth and its biosphere.

Unfortunately, this is still just the beginning.

Today is also a day to think about the future of this planet and our future generations. We all need to look at what we do, how we treat the environemnt and what will we be leaving for those to come. Think about this: Are you doing enough at home and in your life to help save the world? Review what you dispose of, and what you recycle. (Read about electronic waste.) Can more be done at work? There is so much more, but I don’t think I have the space to list it all…

Despite efforts made to overcome pollution and protect our natural resources and our ecosystem itself — we are still a long way from solving the problems caused by humanity. Make an effort today to help set things right. A small step in the right direction is a great way to start.

Earth Day Resources and Articles

Here are some news articles and web sites related to Earth Day. I haven’t had time to dig deep into all of them, but upon a quick glance they all seemed like they were worth taking a look at.

Posted: Earth Day 2005, Matthew Schlukebier. | .

In progress.

Some good (internal) changes are in progress for this web site. I may even “reboot” (external) with a new design in May!

Posted: Earth Day 2005, Matthew Schlukebier. | .

May 1st and CSS Reboot

Community Web Redesign

This is an interesting idea — and it keeps the web a much “fresher” place.

The original project is the May 1st Reboot, however it seems to be more heavily based in the world of Macromedia Flash. This is where the CSS Reboot-variant comes in, and this is the one I would participate it.

The short version? The May 1st Reboot is a community project that brings together web professionals from all over and encourages them to collectively launch redesigns of their sites on May 1st. …

… this year CSS Reboot will attempt to bring together web professionals who design with CSS and standards in mind to launch their redesigns on May 1st along with all the Flash designers. This way we can both participate and show everyone just how great semantic, accessible design can be.

I haven’t decided for sure that I will participate this year (this is a busy time with all my music performances). But one way or another, a redesign is needed for this site. I’ll just have to see how this week plays out! Read up on these projects:

Posted: 14 April 2005, Matthew Schlukebier. | .

A few new blog features

Syndicated Worth Reading

A third syndication feed has been added to the site featuring the “worth reading” articles I occasionally list (below). (The first two are Atom and RSS 2.0 syndications of my blog content.)

The difference between this feed and the other two is that the reading syndication is a dynamic feed updated the same as the list below (each time you access it). whereas my other two feeds are still static. (As of yet, my blog is not entirely database driven… I’m working on it…)

Entry Permalinks

To make it easier to link to within the blogosphere (and to catch up with 90% of the other bloggers out there), I have added a form of permalink to the site. It functions and takes you to the correct article, but I am not sure if it is the most efficient way at doing this yet.

For now, I’ll consider this a beta permalink system. However, no matter what I settle on in the end, this will remain functional in some manner to prevent broken links.

Posted: 13 April 2005, Matthew Schlukebier. | .

45° for 25²

Minnesota State Quarter Release

I spent part of yesterday at a really cool release celebration for the new Minnesota State Quarter (32nd of 50). Oh, did I say cool? I meant cold. Very cold, and rainy. Brrrr … 45 degrees for a couple of collections of the new quarter dollar.

The event took place on the Capitol lawn in Saint Paul. Presentations took place by a group of Native Americans, the Governor and others. Parts were definitely interesting, but it was just so cold! I picked up a commemorative display of the new quarter dollar (includes both the “P” and “D” minted quarters). Kind of a nifty little historic souvenir. I (like hundreds of others) also stood in a long line to buy a few rolls of the new quarter (all “D” — darn!). The 3,000 or so youth attending received a quarter for free. Good payment for having to sit there for an hour or so in the cold.

But, like I said, it was interesting. I was glad to have been there.

Quarter Dollar Reverse

For those who have not yet seen the new quarters: The obverse of the quarter dollar has the new design of George Washington, and the reverse has the new Minnesota design with an outline of the state and our famous slogan “Land of 10,000 Lakes”.

For more information on all of this:

Posted: 13 April 2005, Matthew Schlukebier. | .

Can you say “Super-size Me”?

I can.

Yick. My brother and I were a little early to work this morning, so we went to McDonalds to catch some breakfast. The rich smell of a McDonalds restaraunt brings back many memories of childhood and high school… fun times. One bite and I remembered… exactly why I had decided to start avoiding the place.

The food at McDonalds doesn”t taste horrible, but the layers of grease and the other oils soaked throughout remind me of the truthful (disgusting) documentary exploring how bad fast food can be.

Posted: 05 April 2005, Matthew Schlukebier. | .

Quench your thirst for knowledge.

Try the all new “Google Gulp”!

Need something new to drink? Check out Google Gulp.

… we’re pleased to announce Google Gulp (beta)™ with Auto-Drink™ (limited release), a line of “smart drinks” designed to maximize your surfing efficiency by making you more intelligent, and less thirsty.

Four different flavors are available: Glutamate Grape, Sugar-Free Radical, Beta Carroty, and Sero-Tonic Water. (If only there was a “Sucker Punch” — I’d be out to get this all right away!)

Embedded DNA scanner

The embedded DNA scanner really makes this worthwhile though. How many juice drinks can read up to 3GB of your own DNA to adjust the juice to your own needed hormones and nutrition. Take a look at the new product site for more information. This product (like so many others from Google) is still in beta. I can’t wait until they are serving this one at Chipotle!

(Now, of course, what Google doesn’t directly mention: April Fools’!)

Unrelated, and “Lame”

Here’s something worthless: Lame

Posted: April Fools’ 2005, Matthew Schlukebier. | .