We are now at www.atypicalspirituality.com. Leave me some comments on my blog (I'm Tank) and let me know what you think.

Thanks

Tank

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Software: Delicious Library

Macs are incredible and they just became even better if you have a camera of some sort attached to them (yes, this means iSight too). You can use your camera as a barcode scanner to keep track of all your movies, games, books, and music. You simply scan in the barcode and it will do the rest of the work of keeping a working list of everything you own. It also has a feature where you can set up accounts for your friends so that they can 'check-out' from your library and you can keep track of who has your stuff. I still haven't used this program very much, but found it to be very well designed and a great idea. You should all check out their website for more information and a free trial.

Book: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

This book is written by an architect and a chemist who are both concerned with the way we make things. I am only about half way through the book, but I have really enjoyed reading it. The basic premise of the book is that we need to design items in such a way that they can be recycled for the same purpose over and over again (they call this kind of recycling, upcycling). An example: When we are 'done' with a car they are crushed and melted to be reused, but because of the way they are constructed different types of metals are being melted together and they create a weaker metal that cannot be used in cars again (they call this kind of recycling, downcycling). Eventually this recycled product will be recycled to the point that it cannot be used, and when these products are recycled they let off harmful chemicals into the air for humans and plantlife to breathe. This is just one example that I have poorly explained.

The books is actually not made out of paper, but instead a plastic that can be melted down and reused for another book. It is also waterproof, which means you can take it safely into a hottub, bath, or to the beach and not worry at all. They do propose ideas on how to make more books like this and make them completely reusable so that we will not just throw away the product at the end (what they call 'Cradle to Grave') but we will use the materials all over again to create a product just as good as the first (what they call 'Cradle to Cradle'). This book is targeted for people who are interested in design/environment, but I recommend this as a read for everyone. It has changed the way I think about helping the environment.

Okay, one more idea from the book. It's a short one I promise. The focus of most enviromental agencies and our country in general is to make pollution less, use less energy with a bigger yield, make less waste, etc. They say that our focus is to make everything 'less bad'. But they propose that we should focus on making things 'Good', not 'less bad'.

As you can tell, I'm still sorting out alot of the ideas in this book, GO GET IT NOW!

Music: Ray Lamontagne

Okay, so I am going to see one of my favorite bands in a couple of weeks and they originally had Ray as their support act, so I naturally got ahold of some of his music, and I loved it. The CD I got was called 'Trouble' and it was incredible, but he just came out with a new CD called 'Till The Sun Turns Black' and I think it might be even better. I fallen in love with his music over the last couple of months, but I will shut my mouth and let his music do the talking, just go to his myspace (the link above). Oh, and by-the-way, he isn't opening for the band I am going to see now and I am darn mad.

Tank

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