New Planet discovered?

Check out the possible 10th planet of our solar system!

Seattle trying to be come garbage free

Check out this article about Seattle's goal to become a zero garbage economy. It would be so wonderful if we could all do our best not to generate so much waste. You can read more here.

The Inner-net - Latest Communication Technology

Awesome speech given by Viral at the Jain convention earlier this month. Its just amazing how much inspiration comes from those two brothers!

The Inner-net - Latest Communication Technology

Awesome commencement speech by Steve Jobs

I was just sent the Stanford Commencement specch by Steve Jobs today. Pretty inspiring, you can read it on Stanford's website here.

TRANSFORMERS COMMUNICATION

Steven Spielberg is going to make a new Transformers Movie!!!

TRANSFORMERS COMMUNICATION

Two Seas, Two Feet: My Hike Across the Continent

Check out this guy, he did the first Sea to Sea hike, all the way across North America!

Two Seas, Two Feet: My Hike Across the Continent

Random acts of kindness week

Just saw an article today about Moorestown, NJ which was chosen as "Best Place to Live" by Money Magazine, one cool thing about the town is that they have a random acts of kindess week! Link

A Livable Shade of Green - New York Times

Here's a really interesting article from the NYT about how Portland has drastically reduced its carbon emissions on their own. I'm pretty disgusted at how Bush and the US Gov't are ignoring things like they Kyoto accord, and the environment in general. Its great to see how people are taking action into their own hands and finding solutions to these environmental issues.

A Livable Shade of Green - New York Times

Trip to Nice, France

Lights on beach in Cannes
Originally uploaded by Fred Hsu.

I just got back from my business trip to Nice, and t was really gorgeous over there. The first night after the
meeting we went along the coast to Monaco, a really rich provence that
was full of yachts, ferraris and such. On the way we stopped at the
medival village of Eze. Then on the 2nd night we went down to Cannes,
where they have the film festival each year. A really pretty town
with sandy beaches, high class stores, and great nightlife. Finally
on the 3rd day I rented a car and we drove down to St. Tropez, another
really nice coastal town, smaller than the others, and then headed
into Old Nice, which is made up of a large marketplace called the
flower market, and lots of cobblestone walkways (too narrow for cars). You can find more photos by clicking on this entry's title or here

Stream next to mile trail

Stream next to mile trail
Originally uploaded by Fred Hsu.

This weekend we took a trip to Henry Coe State park and hiked about 11 mi round trip. We started from the park HQ, and met a very helpful park ranger who helped us plan our trip to China Hole and back.

We took the Corral Trail out of HQ, down Springs Trail, to Manzanita Point Rd. After passing the campgrounds near Bass Lake, we headed down Madrone Soda Spring Trail to the poison oak infested Mile Trail. The Mile Trail was actually lots of fun because we had to keep crossing the stream we were walking by (very happy to have waterproof boots!), and then we made it to China Hole.

We stopped for lunch, then were suddenly surrounded by a huge group of kids from Inner City Outings who were returning from a backpacking trip. They definitely seem to be having a great time in the outdoors. After taking a little wade through the water and skipping some rocks, we headed back along China Hole Trail, then finally to the Forest Trail back to the car. All in all a really great hike that we'd like to do again (maybe mixed with some backpacking).
More Pics can be seen HERE

American Lung Association: State Ozone Page

Here's a study done by the American Lung Association listing various cities and their ozone ratings, which directly relates to smog and air pollution. You can type in a zip code to switch to a state other than California. Looks like we've got some pretty bad air unless you live on the coast.
American Lung Association:�SOTA05 State Ozone Page

After the Tsunami, Rebuilding Paradise

Article in the NY Times travel section about the drops in tourism and the rebuilding going on in Thailand.

The New York Times > Travel > After the Tsunami, Rebuilding Paradise

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park

The national park service has just added a new National Park, the "Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks". Looks like another place to add to my visit list.
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park

Helping Others in the Bay Area

Nice article from Metroblogging describing some ways to serve in the bay area.
Metroblogging San Francisco: Helping Others in the Bay Area

Mindful Clock

I ran across this nifty freeware program called "Mindful Clock". Its basically a timer that will ring a bell every hour, or 15 mins to remind you to be mindful. It also has a nice little meditation timer. The program was written by some devotees of Thich Nhat Hanh:

For those of us who practice in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, when the temple bell or grandfather clock sounds, we stop what we are doing and come back to our breath, for at least three full breaths. Sometimes, to remind ourselves of our intent, we say the gatha:

Listen, listen,
this wonderful sound
brings me back
to my true self

In a Mindfulness at Work workshop in 1996, Mitchell Ratner mentioned that it would be wonderful to have a computer program that would simulate the bells of mindfulness and grandfather clocks at Plum Village, Thich Nhat Hanh's retreat center in France. David Steigerwald, a software and sound engineer, said it should not be difficult to design one. Several months later, he had a working model.

Mindful Clock

First solar city

From worldchanging, a city in Gujarat, India is planning to become the first city powered entirely by solar energy!Economy & Policy

Wrapping texts

Neerav wrapping texts
Originally uploaded by Fred Hsu.

Once again we headed up to Berkeley to bind buddhist texts to be distributed in India. This group is totally volunteer/donation driven and provides thousands of books for free at the World Peace ceremony. More pictures from the event can be found here.

Surprise!

Surprise!
Originally uploaded by Fred Hsu.

Well we finally did it! This past Sunday we took a trip up to Yosemite, and at Mirror Lake I proposed (and she accepted :) ). I had the ring in my pocket, and asked her to take out a spare "camera battery" for me. When she finally wrestled it out of my pocket she opened it and found the ring. Shveta's Mom was right there as well, since she requested to be present, one extra benefit of that is that we have pictures! You can find the pictures below:

Engagement Photos"

Flying Cars Ready To Take Off

Maybe living like the Jetsons isn't so far off! How cool would it be to fly to work or for short trips?

CBS News | Flying Cars Ready To Take Off | April 17, 2005�23:34:36

Starbucks Makes Commitment to Renewable Energy

Great news from Worldchanging, Starbucks is planning to power 5% of their electricity needs from renewable energy sources, the equivalent of removing 3,200 cars from the road! Makes me feel better about buying that White Chocolate Mocha! I hope more companies will follow suit, and that they can increase that percentage!
Science News Article | Reuters.com