Vacuum - Edward Vielmetti in Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

links for 2008-04-30

• Goedkope kantoorruimte door 'coworking' - Sprout
  a coworking map of the Netherlands, with nice photos and contact information for the various locations.
  (tags: coworking netherlands holland via:ton neogeography)

links for 2008-04-29

• A physicist on the "Lessig style" (Lessig Blog)
  an account of a lessig-style preso from a physicist, showing highlights of the style. includes use of repetition, blank slides, minimal text
  (tags: keynote presentation preso design howto)

links for 2008-04-26

• BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | What if we all walked to work?
  in central London, for example, there are 109 journeys between Tube stations that are quicker to walk (taking into account time spent waiting for trains).
  (tags: transportation walking walk walkertracker pedestrian london)
• Chariots of Fire and Iron: The Modern Railway System (1888)
  The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings. Nahum 2:4
  (tags: party-like-its-188x railroad religion via:biblophagist fire iron)

Michigan Morel Map 2008

You don't really think I'm going to tell you where to pick morels, do you? Even my mom won't tell me where she gets hers.

What I can share is some set of things that people are tracking for timing for when morels appear, and forums where this stuff is being discussed by experts.

There is a terrific list of morel mushroom information carefully collected by The Great Morel; lots to read, if you want to know more.

The Michigan Sportsman Forums report on the Morel Progression Sightings Map for the year, which gives you big dots showing approximate locations. This is a current April 25, 2008 selection.

Absolute Michigan's story on the 2007 Boyne City Mushroom Festival includes plenty of details.

The Grayling, MI visitors bureau guide to the morels of Crawford County Michigan gives away details, but being coy, recommends that you bring your own log book and note where you found yours.

UPDATE: Mike Gould of Ann Arbor has a story originally in the Ann Arbor Observer about Roonquest: the mushrooms that bloom in the spring about morel hunting near Charlevoix.

UPDATE: More morel information by video at Youtube - see e.g. VideoMorelHunting collection of accounts and movies.

UPDATE: Morel mushroom hunting in the Upper Peninsula w/report of nothing yet as of 4/25 in Menominee County. thanks @frnash for the link

UPDATE: Superior Sights on Morel Mushroom Picking in the Upper Peninsula says their favorite spot is northwest of Newberry, MI, in Luce County, and says that the best times in the UP for morels tend to be end of May to early June.

UPDATE: The music of the Mushroomer's Waltz (MP3) comes from the National Morel Mushroom Festival in Boyne City, MI, May 15-18 2008.

links for 2008-04-25

• community - a review of the theory
  We explore the development of theory around community, and the significance of boundaries, social networks and social norms - and why attention to social capital and communion may be important.
  (tags: a2b3 community society theory socnet literature-review)
• Cassier's Magazine: "Widening Application of the Telephone"
  more history of communications technology and its use
  (tags: telephone community customs communication via:vaguery)

links for 2008-04-24

• Wait, How Old Is My Kid Again?
  this is interesting, but why hard code everything? e.g. howoldismykid.com/2007/12/02/Claire.xml or howoldismypresident.com/1802/02/12/Abraham-Lincoln.xml
  (tags: hacks rss via:deusx)
• How to Leave the Perfect Voicemail | The Art of Manliness
  Hello, this is Edward Vielmetti at 734-330-2465, 734-330-2465. I'm following up on our conversation. We met at IUE this spring in Ann Arbor, and you mentioned freelance work on the N. project. I'm available, and please contact me if you're interested.
  (tags: voicemail howto think-of-voicemail-as-twitter)
• Cassier's Magazine - Engineering - 1907
  Multiplex Telegraphy and Simultaneous Telegraphy and Telephony
  (tags: telegraph telephone party-like-its-190x we-gave-you-this-fire why-dont-you-call via:vaguery)

Garlic Mustard in Michigan (via MSU IPM)

Garlic Mustard in Michigan, a report and information from Michigan State University:

Garlic mustard is an exotic invasive plant from Europe that invades woodland habitats in North America and impacts forest biodiversity. In some woodlands, dense stands of garlic mustard in the spring threaten showy spring blooming ephemerals like spring beauty, trilliums and trout lilies. Other research points toward potentially negative impacts on timber species and forest health. Many land managers consider it to be one of the most potentially harmful and difficult to control invasive plants in the region.

It's time to pull garlic mustard again, which is a sure sign of spring. Our yard has a little bit, not too bad, and certainly not as bad as it was a few years ago before we realized just what we had that was growing so vigorously.

Last year at this time I recounted a tale of where to go for a walk in the woods, and the story of the celebration of the garlic mustard recipe of the year. (in summary, bleah.) As a reminder:

So I made it and tasted it. Not particularly good, and I'm still dealing with the tummy ache. Perhaps someone else has a better recipe, or I picked it too late in the season, or it really just doesn't taste that good? I will admit to not adding the vinegar (or, as Allen Bailey suggested, lemon juice) which might have been the problem. Next time, I'll also cook the greens in a change or two of water first, which should also draw off some of the bitterness.

If you have an awesome garlic mustard recipe - or, if you know a source for a supply of pygmy goats that will eat the stuff - pls. note in the comments.

supermemo and morning coffee ritual memory

An important piece of having coffee in the morning is making it part of a routine. If you're predictable in your habits, you start to see the same people in the same space at the same time, and you get to be something of a regular.

If you're careful, and switch your morning allegiances from time to time but still visit the old haunts often enough, you can be what passes for a regular long after you stopped coming every day.

How often, then, do you need to show up for people to remember you? For that I turn to structured repetition, and the power of priming memory periodically to strengthen it. Supermemo, a software package for memory improvement, has a nice paper on using Supermemo without a computer, which specifies a pattern of repetitions and intervals to get details into memory. The table of intervals specified says that you review materials at this pace:

4 days, 7 days, 12 days, 20 days, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 5 months, 9 months, 16 months, 2 years, 4 years, 6 years, 11 years, 18 years

Which suggests that a well-timed practice of showing up at a cafe, introducing yourself to everyone, learning their names, and them coming back at precisely timed intervals to repeat the process would be enough to make you a regular in no time at all.

compact weather forecast in RSS?

I'm looking for a weather forecast in RSS which packs as much information into the subject line as possible.

By point of comparison, here are a few examples of things that could be better. The weather underground's feed looks like this:
Current Conditions - 49.8F / 9.9C | Partly Cloudy - 6:50 AM EDT Apr. 23
Today as of Apr. 23 3:45 AM EDT
which is OK for current information (albeit wordy) but useless for the forecast.

I'd like something between
48104: Today: Mostly cloudy through mid morning...then becoming partly sunny. An isolated light shower during the morning...then a chance of showers and thunderstorms through 6 PM. Highs 72 to 76. Light and variable winds...becoming north 5 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30 percent.
and
48104: Isolated Thunderstorms. High: 76 Low: 46
all to fit in the 140 character Twitter format.

links for 2008-04-23

• Mapping US news stories by state and population
  great distorted map showing the distortion of the news coverage in the US, using a map style via Mark Newman
  (tags: maps visualization cartography neogeography map strangemaps)
• Mark Maynard - update on the great ypsi bike-powered movie thing
  emergent organization around bicycle-powered cinema
  (tags: bike generator green movie power ypsilanti washtenaw-wow cinema via:strudeau)