the Yike Bike

interesting new 2-wheeled motorized urban personal transport
it folds up tiny and goes 25km/hour
looks like it rides as instinctively as a bike--after a while
http://www.yikebike.com/site/gallery/video/yikebike-discovery-channel
my concern is the sort of posture that it traps you in, upright but slumped
like we need any more reasons to slouch and be sedentary

Saudi Arabia Burns Witches

Well, almost. Actually they intend to penalize a TV personality who predicted the future as part of his show.  They are going to kill him. The charge is 'sorcery'. Must have been a convincing show.

Survival Tips from Earthquake Survivor in Chile

After the recent series of earthquakes around the world, and a news article I read interviewing a Portland City employee about what will happen here when the fault pops loose. It's the same fault that San Fransisco sits on. He thinks the big one will happen here within a century. It could be tomorrow. I am not ready. When I mention it to others, no one seems willing to think about it. But why not be prepared? We here live on a giant fault, and this city would be paralyzed by a quake because the city is split in half by a river. There are eight bridges in the city. Probably half of them would fall down, or be severely damaged. Water lines would break. Lawlessness would ensue. Even here. But we like to think that we are so civilized that nothing bad would happen. I do think that Portland, of all cities, would probably be one of the best to be in when the shit hits.

This is a bit of general advice I gleaned from living through the utter anarchy that followed the earthquake, in no particular order. I write this in the hopes that it helps someone someday.
( ADVICE, not mine, but I agree, not that I act )