Friday 22 April 2011

Supporting the Karoo fracking is just plain wrong. Here's why.

 "If we damage our limited water supply?and fracking will do just that?we will have conflict again here in South Africa. Look around the world. Wherever you damage the environment you have conflict."
Although this is really lengthy read is covers the subject matter really well. It is worth your while reading the comments at the end of the lengthy article and the responses from the author Donald Paul. Please read the knowtoneed post below this for a descripton of fracking with a video included.
Either way get on with reading the lengthy article at The Daily Maverick

What the FRACK!


What is fracking and what are people talking about with Shell and the Karoo.


From Hydraulic Fracturing Facts

About Hydraulic Fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a proven technological advancement which allows natural gas producers to safely recover natural gas from deep shale formations. This discovery has the potential to not only dramatically reduce our reliance on foreign fuel imports, but also to significantly reduce our national carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and accelerate our transition to a carbon-light environment. Simply put, deep shale gas formation development is critical to America's energy needs and economic renewal.
Experts have known for years that natural gas deposits existed in deep shale formations, but until recently the vast quantities of natural gas in these formations were not thought to be recoverable. Today, through the use of hydraulic fracturing, combined with sophisticated horizontal drilling, extraordinary amounts of deep shale natural gas from across the United States are being safely produced.
Hydraulic fracturing has been used by the natural gas and oil industry since the 1940s and has become a key element of natural gas development worldwide. In fact, this process is used in nearly all natural gas wells drilled in the U.S. today. Properly conducted modern hydraulic fracturing is a safe, sophisticated, highly engineered and controlled procedure.



Read more from Green Frac

FRacking by Lewis Gordon Pugh (the human polar bear)


SHALE GAS FRACKING IN THE KAROO - PUBLIC HEARINGS

This is the content of a short speech given on Friday night in Cape Town by Lewis Gordon Pugh OIG (a.k.a. the Human Polar Bear) about the proposed fracking for gas in the Karoo, by Shell. He received a sustained standing ovation! Please read it and pass it on if it matters to you….

Ladies and gentlemen, thank for the opportunity to address you. My name is Lewis Pugh.

Read more on this here especially the readers comments at the end of the article.

Saturday 9 April 2011

Animated Infographic: Which City Is Best for Biking

Infographic: Which Countries Are Most Reliant on Libya for Oil?

As unrest continues to mount and conflict rages on in Libya, questions surrounding the North African nation's oil exports remain in the air. The international Energy Agency said in March 2011 that the country's oil production has "slowed to a trickle" as the fighting has prompted international companies to halt their operations and close ports. 

What does this mean for the countries that receive shares of Libya's typical daily output? Here's a breakdown of which ones depend most on the turbulent but oil-rich nation. 
www.good.is/post/infographic-which-countries-are-most-reliant-on-libya-for-oil/?utm_source=supr

Libya, Conflict, Oil, North Africa, International Energy Agency, World news, Infographics, Transpareny

Tempest Freerunning Academy

Thursday 7 April 2011

Photographic Exhibition: Billy Monk - Nightclub Photographs



Michael Stevenson is pleased to present a selection of 47 images by the legendary photographer
Billy Monk taken in Cape Town nightclubs in 1967-9.
The unusual narrative of his life and work has often been related and embellished upon,

and has become entwined with our perceptions of the images. In essence, he was born in 1937,
and worked as a nightclub bouncer for Les Catacombs Club in Cape Town in the late 1960s
when he was around 30 years of age. He later moved to the West Coast and lived in Port Nolloth
periodically until his death in 1982.
More info here

Wednesday 6 April 2011

An Executed Convict Returns to Life, in Mind Blowing 3-D Light Paintings


Source Data for Photography/12:31 from Croix Gagnon on Vimeo.



The jaw-dropping "Project 12:31" visually reconstructs the body of an executed convict who donated his body to science.
Yes, 3-D light painting -- in which a flat glowing image is traced through the air to form a quasi-3D version captured in long-exposure photographs -- is an amazingly creative hack. But Croix Gagnon and Frank Schott have taken the technique to a truly mindblowing -- and emotionally affecting -- level with Project 12:31. Their own description can't be topped: "In 1993, a convicted murderer was executed. His body was given to science, segmented, and photographed for medical research. In 2011, we used photography to put it back together."

Read further here

Sunday 3 April 2011

Infographic of the Day: The Facebook Map of the World






















This one began with profile data from a scant 10 million people -- or about 2% of Facebook's users. Butler first tabulated the number of friends between each city, and what latitude and longitude each friend was at. Then, he created a color code: The more connections between two places, the lighter the line is; the fewer, the darker. What emerged, of course, is a map of the world unlike any other. That is, it's not a map of roads or internet connections or airplane routes -- but a map of human relationships. Our physical geography is simply an emergent quality.

35+ Awesome Tutorials Teaching You How To Create Your Own Icons - tripwire magazine

35+ Awesome Tutorials Teaching You How To Create Your Own Icons - tripwire magazine