The Energy Environment Simulator

...condition? It’s been the centerpiece of Nik’s living room ever since, even making a cross country move. The device demonstrates energy inputs and demands. Depending on how you turn the knobs, you can either engineer a future of never-ending power or, on the other extreme, your own personal zombie apocalypse. One of the energy sources is labeled “new technology.” This could either be solar or that UFO doughnut from the Thrive movie. The only info w...

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Stern Sprouted Wheat Vegan Cookie or Health Bar Type Things

...il it sprouts. Toss it around a bit so it aerates. Wheat will sprout in 24- 36 hours, depending on temperatures. I should pause here to point out that since this all happens at room temperature, you want to be careful about cleanliness. Keep your hands and tools and containers very clean. Don’t let the sprouts get too long (i.e. too old) when making this recipe, because you want the wheat berries to be sweet and firm–not all spent out–or turned to...

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Saturday Linkages: DIY Coffee Roasting and That Crazy Rhubarb Lady

...k.com/the-ten-most-ambitious-failed-utopian-mass-transit-syst-1135019271 … Making a Case to Phase Out “Beg Buttons” in Santa Monica’s Pedestrian Action Plan http://disq.us/8elfzy Meet Streetmix, the Website Where You Can Design Your Own Street » good read http://www.streetsblog.org/2013/08/12/meet-streetmix-the-website-where-you-can-design-your-own-street/ … Werner Herzog Made a Documentary About Texting While Driving. And It’s Haunting. http://ww...

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2013 in Review Part I

...it should rain. It didn’t. The year was the driest on record: 3.6 inches, making it a desert not the Mediterranean climate it should be. It seems to be a dry winter again this year and I’m worried. March A texting music video producer totaled our car and thus began a six month experiment in living without a car in Los Angeles. That experiment ended in September when we bought a car. Living in LA without a car was easier than I thought it would be...

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Does Sourdough Offer Hope for the Gluten Intolerant?

...uickly. But even before Pasteur, bakers used the yeast remaining from beer making (also a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae) to make doughs rise. Sourdough cultures are not as powerful and predictable, so it’s understandable that commercial bakers would want a more dependable alternative. What is in a sourdough culture? There are many strains of yeast in sourdough cultures, but the main one is Candida milleri. Candida milleri is tolerant of highl...

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