240,000 acres of California near Bakersfield have just been conserved due to environmentalist negotiation. This is a 375 square mile chunk nearly the size of Los Angeles. Nice!

Apparently the R. Kelly kiddie porn trial is having some issues getting people onto the jury. The Chicago Tribune looks at the 12 ways you can get dismissed from this high profile trial. Some of them, like the one where the guy states that R.Kelly may be in league with the Taliban and responsible for 9/11 are patently, er, ludicris...

Mark Changizi argues that our visual perception has evolved to anticipate the future. While the actual news isn't as sexy as it sounds, it's still really intriguing stuff.

Quoted: “Evolution has seen to it that geometric drawings like this elicit in us premonitions of the near future,” says Changizi. “The converging lines toward a vanishing point are cues that trick our brains into thinking we are moving forward—as we would in the real world, where the door frame seems to bow out as we move through it—and we try to perceive what that world will look like in the next instant.”

Have you guys seen Google's laser logo treatment today. I posted a little something on it over at my blog. Fun!

A really great site collecting various information design patterns and laying out their respective utilities.

A list of 1,001 books to read before you die.

This is my friend Casey's family's company that designs and builds high end homes.

A great list of prefab manufacturers with actual structures on the market.

kitHaus is another new modern modular housing provider. They're awaiting approval from the ICC for some of their larger structures but you can get one of the really small ones since it qualifies as an accessory structure.

Quoted: Welcome to the official kitHAUS website. A true modular site constructed pre-fabricated housing system.