Over a million Americans were diagnosed with skin cancer in 2007, making it one of the fastest growing types of cancer in the United States. UV exposure is the leading cause of skin cancer and to avoid overexposure many people protect their body with sunscreen.

Unfortunately, if people are protected the coral reefs suffer. A new study finds that chemicals in sunscreen wash off swimmers and awaken dormant viruses inside coral reefs.

NPR: Linkfest: Swimmers’ Sunscreen Killing Off Coral

the monome 40h is a reconfigurable grid of sixty-four backlit buttons.

buttons can be configured as toggles, radio groupings, sliders, or organized into more sophisticated systems to monitor and trigger sample playback positions, stream 1-bit video, interact with dynamic physical models, and play games. button press and visual indication are decoupled by design: the correlation is established by each application.

Created out of the Swamp by a freak accident, Swamp Thing is an elemental creature who uses the forces of nature and wisdom of the plant kingdom to fight the polluted world’s self-destruction. Inspired by the creation of writer Len Wein and artist Berni Wrightson, Alan Moore took the Swamp Thing to new heights in the 1980s with his unique narrative approach. His provocative and groundbreaking writing, combined with masterly artwork by some of the medium’s top artists, made SWAMP THING one of the great comics of the late twentieth century. This volume includes Moore’s first seven issues, SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING #21-27

VERTIGO

Got this one in the gmail today, wonder if we’ll suddenly see a flood of irs spams.

What can 12 musicians create in 12 hours with only $12 worth of thrift store finds?

The Crate Digger Death-match is an audio experiment wherein 12 different musicians attempt to create an entire album in under 12 hours using only $12 worth of cds, records, vhs tapes, or children’s toys as their instruments.

Drown Radio » Crate Digger Death-match

Documentary on a Clockwork Orange on GoogleVideo

Obama has shown a real commitment to open government. When putting together tech policy (to take an example close to home for xkcd) others might have gone to industry lobbyists. Obama went to Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons (under which xkcd is published) and longtime white knight in the struggle with a broken system over internet and copyright policy. Lessig was impressed by Obama’s commitment to open systems — for example, his support of machine-readable government information standards that allow citizens’ groups to monitor what our government is up to. Right now, the only group that can effectively police the government is the government itself, and as a result, it’s corrupt to the core. Through these excellent and long-overdue measures, Obama is working to fight this corruption.

xkcd » Blog Archive » Politics

This is an incredible movie, and it’s sad that it’s basically not shown or recognized anywhere. Searching “Off the Rails” won’t show this film until the second page, and it’s an amazing piece of work.

14 Months, 10,000km, Moscow to Beijing by Pedal power.
A 52 minute film. Winner of the Grants Film Festival 2002 (Austria).

“Waist deep in a melting pool of snow, feet slipping on the icy bottom, the bikes sinking further, we pushed on. Around us the mist lowered as darkness descended upon the Taiga forest. “No, go back, its pointless!” Villagers had cried seeing us ride by. We were coming to realise the wisdom of their words. The road had become a series of swimming-pool size puddles that were growing as the two metres of snow continued to melt. Ahead, five, ten, twenty kilometres of pushing, trudging? We didn’t know…”

It was March, the beginning of Spring in the northwest corner of Russia. Struggling to make 6km a day, Tim Cope & Chris Hatherly, both 20 year-old Australians had embarked on an epic journey across Russia, Siberia, Mongolia, and Northern China, finishing in Tiananmen square, Bejing.

This film, shot and narrated by Tim Cope & Chris Hatherly will take you into the minds of the adventurers, the contrasting landscapes of the Gobi desert and Siberia, and the homes of hundreds of local people. It documents their extraordinary adventure across a continent to Beijing and accompanies their book about the same journey.

Tim Cope Journeys: Off the Rails - DVD

Beginner How Tos