When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, it’s a good core workout. If you’re sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More
Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More
December is almost over - the New Year is coming up and everyone is busy drying off from the rain or holiday shopping. Let's take a look at what's happened this month.
The chain link fence at Dolores Park has come down, and the luxurious new playground is ready beneath the fanned fronds of the palm trees, a play space not unlike a tropical island.
PostedByAndy Wright
on Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Famed science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke died yesterday at the age of 90. The New York Times has published a lengthy obit, while Salon waxes poetic about Clarke's eerie capacity to predict the future. You can listen to Clarke's final interview at Spectrum Radio in which he discussed, among other things, his reaction to Sputnik, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and something called a space elevator. And here's an excerpt from his diary, written while working on the set of 2001. In death, Clarke may finally make a celestial journey. He donated six strands of his hair to a company that plans to send human DNA into space. -Andy Wright
PostedByAndy Wright
on Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi proposed a law yesterday that would make it illegal for newspapers to deliver unwanted copies of their publications to SF's residents, according to an article in today's Chronicle. The supervisor and others say the unwanted papers clutter city streets and "turn to mush in the rain." Dee Dee Workman, executive director of an organization called San Francisco Beautiful said, "They create a lot of blight, and whose responsibility is that? I think it's the responsibility of the newspaper, but they act like it's not, like everyone's dying to read it." Apparently Workman isn't a fan of The Examiner, as the SF daily is the top offender, delivering free copies to about 120,000 residents a day. If the law passes, newspapers will have to print an email or phone number on their publication where residents can call to request that the deliveries stop. After that, the publication will be subjected to fines that increase with every unwanted delivery, starting at $100 for the first one. In some cases, residents who receive unwanted newspapers could collect three times that much. I'm not saying this opens up possibilities of abuse, but you may want to start stockpiling issues of The Examiner. -Andy Wright
The latest scourge of the Mission (beyond hipsters, homeless, and track bikes) has come in the form of those strangely cute triangular Strida 5 Folding Bicycles, which may or may not (okay, definitely might) have something to do with Wired Magazine's documented test drive:
"It's fun to ride, nimble and perfectly suited to zipping around pedestrians on broad sidewalks."
Gee, thanks for looking out for pedestrians Wired. Perhaps you give drunk hipsters too much credit in the "zipping" department. As a small consolation, we may have the opportunity to see someone hurl over their cute little Strida 5 handlebars (see video). It's mean, I know. (via Curbed SF)
PostedByAndy Wright
on Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 11:27 AM
The Associated Press posted a video report this morning about the discovery that Joe Francis, preeminent douchebag and owner of the Girls Gone Wild franchise, had captured the then 18-year-old Ashley Dupre on tape five years ago. Dupre has recently been revealed to be one of the prostitutes former New York Mayor Eliot Spitzer paid for sex. Nearly a full minute of the minute and fifteen second long video consists of Dupre gyrating over the AP logo. Except for a few scant seconds, the rest of the video imagery consists of long shots of Dupre's Myspace page. The voice-over helpfully tells viewers that "the rest is available with a monthly subscription that costs $29.95." I smell a Pulitzer. -Andy Wright
Here's a rhetorical question worth pondering: Is it possible for Mayor Gavin Newsom to become even more of a douchebag? The dude pretty much captured the eternal title already by porking his best friend's girl. But now comes word from Valleywag that Newsom is one of the first in line for the Tesla Roadster, the convertible electric sports car that just went into production.
On the one hand, it's an electric car, which may diminish Newsom's rank on the douchebag scale somewhat, being so green and progressive and all. One the other hand: A politician in a convertible? It's one thing for George Clooney or Flea to drive a convertible, but entirely another for a Mayor. Verdict: Nothing says 'I'm a dickhead politician' like a convertible.
PostedByAndy Wright
on Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Mark Leno sports the nice guy wardrobe staple of casual jacket and jeans while strolling around a picturesque landscape in his fairly innocuous campaign ad. Things probably won't stay so nice now that incumbent Carole Migden has been slapped with $350,000 in fines for misuse of campaign funds. -Andy Wright
PostedByAndy Wright
on Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 10:52 AM
DARPA isn't the only group sticking surveillance cameras in unconventional places.Comcast revealed today that they want to put video cameras in your cable box so they know who's sitting in front of the tube. Senior VP of Comcast, Gerard Kunkel, assuaged all our Orwellian fears when he specified that the cameras won't be able to recognize your face, just the shape of your body! Oh, okay, that's less creepy. The cameras, which are still in the "experimental phase" will not only use the recognition technology to suggest shows based on individual tastes, it will choose what ads you watch. Does this mean that women will be subjected to endless tampon, douche and cleaning product commercials while guys get the cars, beer and action movies? The whole thing gives me that not-so-fresh feeling. (via Gizmodo)–Andy Wright
PostedByAndy Wright
on Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Remember how Electronic Systems and Software sold San Francisco a bunch a voting machines and kind of forgot to tell us they were uncertified? They eventually paid the city $3.5 million and city supervisors signed a $12.6 million contract with another company, Sequoia Voting Systems. The machines were supposed to count both paper and electronic ballots in our ranked-choice elections. Well, New Jersey uses machines from the same company that seemed to have malfunctioned in at least one election, according to an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. Edward Felton, a Princeton Professor who runs a lab that studies voting-machine security and blew the whistle on the faulty Diebold touch screen system, said the machine counts votes improperly.
The numbers were typically off by one, he said: “Usually we saw one too many votes for one party and one too few for the other.” (click 'more')
PostedByAndy Wright
on Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 10:09 AM
DARPA has created a totally new, creepy fusion of live animals and human technology. According to an article in flightglobal.com, the government agency has found a way to put tiny spy mechanisms in the bodies of living moths.
In the latest work a Manduca moth had its thorax truncated to reduce its mass and had a MEMS component added where abdominal segments would have been, during the larval stage.
The cyborg moths can be remote controlled and contain audio and imaging censors. DARPA has listed the drawbacks of the moth/robot hybrid as "the short life span of the insects, which means they could be dead before they are needed and the fact that MEMS insertion was labour-intensive." Also, they returned hours and hours of footage of the bathroom light fixture in the DARPA offices.(via Wired) –Andy Wright
PostedByAndy Wright
on Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 9:12 AM
The MTA Board of Directors hasn't made an official decision yet, but at a meeting last night, they made it clear that raising the cost of the $45 FastPass was unlikely, according to an article in today's Chronicle. Muni had proposed raising the cost of the pass to as much as $60 over the next two years. But MTA Director, Shirley Black, told the audience, "I would like to do anything but raise the fares." Car owners probably won't be so lucky. Higher parking fees and fines are still on the table and MTA officials seem more likely to approve those changes then penalize public transportation riders with fare increases. –Andy Wright
Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"
