Mark Ontkush
Latest Stories from Mark Ontkush
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A Nation of Hitchhikers
Image by Wikimedia As the American Automotive Fabric takes a little "T-Out" from its regularly scheduled programming, we may want to prepare our last bidey-byes to the notion that jumping into a personally-owned powered metal box - gas, electric,
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Camps Forming on the End of the Information Age- Join Now!
Quite a brolio going on at the Archdruid Report regarding the sustainability of the Internet. Using his characteristic logic, John Michael Greer (the druid host) suggests that the End of the Information Age must be near, regardless of the oft-cited
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Five Record-Breaking Trash Cans
Image from NowPublic Ahhh trash, we live amongst it although perhaps without as much esprit de corps as our furry green friend. Trash comes in all substance and sizes - brown banana peels, sticky popsicle wrappers, the occasional ship which needs to be
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Seven American Foods with Regional Availablilty
One of the gentle ironies of the American Cultural Situation is the widespread availability of a limited amount of foodstuffs. Pick up any diner menu between the shining seas and it will have identical offerings; omelets, burgers,
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Microsoft MSDN Goes Loband
Anyone who has tinkered under the hood of a Windows machine is fully appreciative of the Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN), a clearinghouse of information for all Microsoft products. Recently - and perhaps through a little
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High Tech Dinosaur Show in Itself a Dinosaur
The Low-Tech times reports on a novel self-recursive high-tech dinosaur show touring the globe that appears to be more enviro-trouble than it's worth. First, click the link and endure the crazy high bandwidth site design that
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Heirloom Computing - The 100-Year PC
Yoni Levison over at EcoGeek lobbed one of those sobering environmental questions to Tod Arbogast, Dell’s Director of Sustainable Business, the other day - when is the computer that lasts decades going to be developed? It's a good
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Can We Have Too Much Technology?
Kevin Kelly over at the Technium continues to throw out the raw meat, asking the question Is there a reason to diminish technology? Like many, Kelly is a obviously a dyed-wool technologist - lots, more, and often is his perspective but he fairly
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The Blackboard Blogger of Liberia
The "Daily News" is a blackboard on a major road in Monrovia, Liberia which is run by a fellow named Alfred Sirleaf. Everyday, he writes out the news in neat letters for those who can't afford newspapers, radio, or a generator
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Sustainable Loband in the Cloud?
As the discussion over rural broadband heats up, there's sure to be plenty more discussion as to the efficacy of the proposed solutions. Here's one that novel - Loband. Put out by Aptivate, Loband is a free service that simplifies web pages in order
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Broadband in America - Fat Pipes for Old Glory a Questionable Green Plan
With 4 a's and 3 b's in a total of 14 letters, The phrase "Obama Broadband" has a gentle, rolling hills kind of feel that is fun to say and think for its literary value alone. And it's fitting too; as the administration is about
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The New Local Money - Food Dollars
Jumping immediately from John Michael Greer's sobering bit on the end of retirement to Jason Bradford's discussion of printing food-backed money dollars is only for environmental experts; I did it, but barely escaped with my
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One Big Laugh - Technological Familiarity Breeds Contempt
Happened to light onto The Techium today, written by Kevin Kelly - several delicious articles there, and the site is well worth bookmarking. The above perky video featuring Louis C.K. on the Conan O'Brien show probes a very basic question - if
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Our Low-Tech, Jury-Rigged Future
Ah! Nothing smells like shift more than tips from the New York Times on how to fix your high-tech junk using low-tech solutions. Far from a downer, there's satisfaction to be had here: who hasn't had that gentle internal smile when their hand-slam
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Those Slow-Teching Amish
If you're prepared sharpen your shoehorn on what exactly appropriate technology is, one need look no further than this delightful little number on the Amish from Kevin Kelly over at the Technium. For The Some drenched in The
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Uncle Same (pun) Wants You To Buy a Car?
I can see Jim Kunstler's face right now - pursed lips and purple. All this because CNN has leaked out that a few congresspeople think giving cash incentives to buy cars is the way to get things moving again (pun) in the good
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Seeger, Van Jones Embrace the Way of the Gun
If you watched the inauguration, you noticed the steady stream of old-timers who did their bit on the stage; at one point, I half-expected The Who to get up there and rip off a chorus of "Degeneration" to scattered applause.
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Seven Grams CO2 per Google Search? Not True or Relevant, but Fun To Repeat
Many of us will remember the whole seven grams of CO2, kettle of tea thing with Google, and guess that it probably isn't quite right; the dude that supposedly said it now supposedly denies it, apparently blaming it on
