The California Infill Parcel Locator is another neat example of what you can do with digital mapping. Basically, the site helps you find places where the structures on a site aren’t as valuable as the land itself, marking the site as a good candidate for infill development. Check out the WorldChanging site where I found the parcel locator for a good discussion about why infill is a good thing.

The RIAA’s official stats show CD sales dropping through the floor in 2005, but according to Chris Anderson it ain’t as bad as all that. Specifically, digital music sales are making up at least some of the difference, at a higher profit margin.

The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that new rules will allow corporations who donate to national parks and forests a more visible presence there. The CSM poses this as a trade-off between advertising and funding. It ignores the deliberate actions of a conservative government that reduces governmental funding to programs like the national park service in order to set up a trade-off that ought not exist.

The pace that medical technology advances is truly astounding — witness this story of repairing the heart valve without opening the chest.

Off the coast of west Africa are a fleet of fishing boats that are more rust than metal yet still crewed. “These ships seldom, or ever, visit a port. They’re re-supplied, refuelled, re-crewed and transhipped (unloaded) at sea.” The Greenpeace style is a bit breathless for my taste, but nonetheless an interesting read.