UK Eco-house Sold for world record £7.2m!

New environmentally friendly house sells for millions..

"It’s not all doom and gloom for the UK property market: in the face of the country’s slowing or depreciating prices, Sarah Featherstone’s cutting-edge green home has sold for a record-breaking £7.2million, or $14.2million USD! The building, known as Orchid House, is one of the key homes on Lower Mill Estate, a project to turn a disused gravel pit into a beautiful 450-acre nature reserve.
Possibly to subsidize the £3,000 per square foot cost of the property, the building aims to generate more energy than it consumes, making use of geothermal heating. The house can be adapted to any occasion, be it a family holiday or a large reception, due to its flexible living spaces. Inhabitants and visitors to the property can be entertained by the glass-sided badger set installed in the garden."

from http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/06/05/eco-house-sold-for-world-record-72m/

What's a Leonberger?

Have you ever heard of a Leonberger? Bred to look like a lion by the citizens of Leonberg, Germany, the Leonberger is quickly growing in popularity around the world. The best records indicate the Leonberger was declared in 1846 as a legitimate breed by entrepreneurial dog owner/trader Heinrich Essig. It is said that Essig paid much attention to marketing and vision when it came to trading canines, but lacked a knack for keeping in touch with the details. Obviously these days marketers have slews of programs and methodologies for tracking information and data related to the products and services they promote, but back in the day people like Essig just had to wing it!

The Leonberger is thought to have come about by the cross breeding of many large dogs including the St. Bernard, Pyrenean Mountain, and Landseer dogs. Dog-enthusiasts familiar with these dogs will understand that the combination of these breeds would yield a dog that is white, black, or brown. Well, it is obvious, due to the signature golden brown color of the Leonberger today, that other breeds were involved in the creation of the eventual Leonberger.

Regardless of the confusion as to how the Leonberger breed came about, its history is quite fascinating. Because of Essig's marketing skill, and his family's support in training and maintaining his kennel, the early Leonbergers became very popular and were shipped all around the world to high-paying dog enthusiasts. Reports claim Leonbergers were prizes of royalty and were pets of "Empress Elizabeth of Austria, the Prince of Wales, Emperor Napoleon II, Garibaldi, the King of Belgium, Bismarck, King Umberto of Italy, and the Czar of Russia. They were exported as far away as the United States, England, Newfoundland, and Japan to the wealthy who desired large fashionable dogs." http://www.leonbergerclubofamerica.com/breedhistory.aspx

The Leonberger is truly an extraordinary breed. Throughout the years it has almost become extinct twice, the most dangerous time being that of WWI when two men, Herr Stadelmann and Herr Otto Josenhans, scoured Germany for Leonbergers and found only 25. Of the 25, only 5 were suitable for breeding. From these 5 the breed developed into what it was today. Leonberger clubs and organization have fostered the lifeblood of the breed, including the most prominent Deutsche Club für Leonberger Hunde. From this and other organizations specific breed characteristics have been nailed down in order to ensure the unmuddied continuation of the breed.

Today Leonberger clubs are all over the world and owners get together exclusively to meet and let their dogs "do their thang". To read more about Leonbergers visit http://www.leonbergerclubofamerica.com/ . There you can learn all about this wonderful dog breed and how it is growing in popularity.

Spore, teasing gamers

Highly anticipated video game Spore continues to tease gaming enthusiasts with pictures and video.

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9957883-1.html?tag=cnetfd.mt

From Will Wright, creator of The Sims, Spore is one of the most anticipated video games to come out in years. The game allows players to create a species from the beginnings of the primordial ooze, foster its development into a fully functional being, and try to conquer the universe. There will be five phases in the game: Tidal Pool Phase, Creature Phase, Tribal Phase, Civilization Phase, and Space Phase. In the first two phases, players create and develop their species physically. In the last three phases, players develop the cultural, social, and strategically minded aspects of their species.

the most unique aspect of the game is its interactivity and online capabilities. While each player will develop its species uniquely in a guided methodology, eventually players will interact together, battling for power of the universe.

Google Street View - Taking over the World

In April 2008 Google fully integrated its new feature, Street View, into Google Maps. Street View allows people to view the street (simple as that!). Currently, people can click street view and "visit" over 40 cities in the United States. Google plans to expand continually until the whole world is mapped.

When it was launched in May 2007, Street View only included 5 cities. Today, Google streetcars (cars mounted with tons of wide-angle cameras) have been seen all over the world from Spain to Japan to New Zealand.

Google wants to expand currently into Canada but privacy issues are flying in the face of progress. Issues with public images being displayed that people don't want broadcasted to the universe are arising, and Google is having trouble with innappropriate content that is inadvertently added to the service. Here's a related vid from current.com

Will Ferrell, Angry Boss

You don't want to work at this place.

Man Trashes Office, Goes Crazy

This is so funny, especially without the sound, it's like an old Charlie Chaplin movie. www.funnyordie.com

Tropic Thunda! (er)

Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. in viral video for Tropic Thunder

This is scary

According to this video, the internet will cease to be open in 2012.