MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd gave an interview to the New York Times yesterday, in which "Mr. Dodd said he would welcome a summit meeting between Internet companies and content companies, perhaps convened by the White House, that could lead to a compromise." While framed by the Times as his acceptance of defeat (the MPAA had rejected a prior meeting), the article shows that Dodd still doesn't get it. 

China has finished production of the first of its Chinese-built magnetically levitated (maglev) trains in Zhuzhou, Hunan. Described as low-cost and eco-friendly, the trains are to begin operating next year on the Daitai line between Haidian District and Beijing. The three-coached trains are able to carry up to 600 passengers and run at a top speed of 100 kph.

"It's ideal for mass transportation, as it is quiet and environmentally friendly", says Xu Zongxiang, general manager of Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company. "Its manufacturing cost is about 75 percent of a conventional light-rail train".

File-hosting services all around the world will have looked on in horror yesterday as MegaUpload, one of the world’s largest cyberlocker services, was taken apart by the FBI. Foreign citizens were arrested in foreign lands and at least $50 million in assets seized. So what exactly prompted this action? We read every word of the 72-page indictment so you don’t have to, and we were surprised by its contents.

Yesterday a massive operation took down MegaUpload, one of the world’s leading file-storage services and one of the world’s biggest sites, period.

Meteorites that fell to Earth during a meteor shower in July of 2011 have been confirmed to be from Mars. The rocks, discovered in Morocco, were likely ejected off the surface of the planet during an ancient asteroid impact.

This is believed to be the fifth time in history that people have observed what turned out to be chemically confirmed martian material falling to Earth. Out of the approximately 24,000 known meteorites to have fallen to Earth, only about 34 have been verified to be martian in origin. Fifteen of these rocks are attributed to the meteorite shower last July. Some of the rocks, which are very rare on Earth, are being sold from US$11,000 to $22,500 per ounce, which is about ten times more than the cost of gold.

Visionary and eco-architect Mark Lakeman is founder of City Repair, Communitecture Architects, and the Planet Repair Institute. Mark goes against the traditional architecture teachings that humanity and nature are separate. Instead he brings these two concepts together, expressing them in beautiful artform. Modeling the plazas of Mexico and South America, Mark is teaching people the foundations of community by showing them the value of building open spaces to sit and gather, gardens, and places to read and drink tea. The end result is creative and beautiful.

Unlike modern architecture designed with a T-square and triangle, Mark designs in relation to the natural landscapes and natural curves and spaces in the community. He also designs according to the wants and needs of the people in the community.

“For each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night, for health and food, for love and friends, for everything Thy goodness sends.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Insomnia is often the result of incessant thoughts and persistent emotions that keep us physically or mentally tossing back and forth. It is common to experience a sense of anxiety about what the next day holds or concern over things that have already happened throughout the day. All of these thoughts and emotions take us away from being truly present to the experience of slipping away into a peaceful slumber.

The White House released a statement commenting on the pending SOPA and PIPA anti-piracy bills in congress. While the Obama Administration sides with the opposition by saying that free-speech should be protected, censorship is evil, and that DNS-blocking is a no go, the statement doesn’t mean that the bills are off the table.

This week has once again been filled with news about the pending Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate counterpart PIPA.

For a growing amount of people, the need for sustainable communities is clear and obvious and has been for a long time. You’ll be waiting a long time for governments to act and implement real sustainable communities. Governments are put into power by powerful business and lobby groups who don’t have an interest in sustainable communities. So the answer at hand right now is to do it yourself. 

One group, Open Source Ecology (OSE), are coming up with the tools and knowledge to be able to create sustainable communities. Whats better, is as the name suggests, their work can be accessed as they release what they do open source.