Tue, Dec 05 2006

The real tarnish of gold

I've always heard the term ":filthy lucre" but I never knew there was such a thing as dirty gold. Acid lakes? Toxic waste in 300-foot-high piles? Cyanide? It doesn't sound very pretty at all, does it?


(Photo courtesy of Earthworks)

posted at: 10:27 | category: /Health and Fitness | link to this entry

From home doodles to home design?

I've always had an odd side interest of designing floor plans for homes. I've never studied mechanical drawing or architecture on a formal basis, but I love taking a space and thinking about the best use of it, particularly when it comes to the challenge of designating areas while eliminating skinny halls that often waste space.

Home design software sounds like a great toy, but the cheaper versions have always seemed a bit clunky to me. Some of the higher end software has better bells and whistles, but tends to require math and AutoCad-type knowledge that makes for a steep learning curve to an off-the-cuff artsy type like me. And since I don't design houses for a living I've never really been able to justify paying much for something to use for idle doodling.

I end up going back to pencil, paper and ruler. At least I get to express creativity. But I know I could have more and get more done with the right tools. So, I find myself more than a little intriqued with the news that I may get the chance to doodling that home design right inside a browser fairly soon.

posted at: 08:40 | category: /Playing | link to this entry