2008 April
- Underworld live broadcast from Lemonworld Studios [∞]
Underworld is beginning a series of quarterly web broadcasts from their recording studio starting today. The show begins 6 PM UK/1 PM Eastern.
- We should have banned Bisphenol A twenty years ago [∞]
Over the last twenty years, scientists have built a mountain of evidence that Bisphenol A, the key ingredient in polycarbonate plastic, should scare the daylights out of us. It should have been banned a long time ago, as a precautionary measure, but regulators were asleep at the switch — allowing the chemical industry to run roughshod over them.
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Unfortunately, a mix of deception and apathy has left us exposed for decades. Last year, a highly-biased government panel pulled a snow job that would make the Tobacco Industry proud: They claimed that Bisphenol A is not a cause for concern two weeks after scientists issued a damning report about the chemical. Their trickery bought the chemical industry months of slack, until the Canadian government announced that it may ban baby bottles made from the questionable substance. Soon thereafter, Wal-Mart announced that it would no longer stock polycarbonate baby bottles and Nalgene Outdoor Products agreed to stop making their trademark water bottles.
I have a Nalgene bottle but use it rarely, such as when I’m playing soccer. I’ve heard that BPA tends to leak out of the bottles when the plastic is in contatct with hot liquids or during washing with detergent. So if you wash your water bottle with soap, make sure you dry it thoroughly before refilling.
- Is Ann Arbor going Hollywood? Moviemakers take renewed interest in filming here [∞]
Ann Arbor isn’t the movie-making mecca of the Midwest just yet, but local sources say interest in the city as a film location is heating up.
Commercial real estate agents say there has been a surge of inquiries about properties that could be used by filmmakers, several local schools are being scouted for filming locations, and the Ann Arbor Convention and Visitors Bureau is expanding its role as the go-to group for production companies seeking to shoot in the area.
“There’s certainly a flurry of activity and inquiries coming in. It goes a lot deeper than finding hotel rooms and mapping out sites for them to take a look at,” said Mary A. Kerr, Convention and Visitors Bureau president.
- The Fabric podcast [∞]
Fabric nightclub owner Keith Reilly is featured in a two-part mix on the Fabric podcast.
- YouTube’s April Fools prank [∞]
YouTube is linking any featured video on its home page to the infamous Rick Astley “Rick Roll” video this morning. At least one company managed to do a prank right this year.