This is how many of us feel these days ;-(

After a long wait, the Readius e-Reader AND 3G Phone is finally around the corner! The first countries to get the Readius are England, Italy and Germany, according to the NYTimes. Americans will have to wait until early 2009 before they can lay their hands on it.

From Readius:

Our exclusive rollable display technology is the core around which we build our plans, and in the Autumn of this year we will launch Readius, the first pocket eReader. Readius offers the advantages of eReaders as known today - but now all neatly wrapped into a pocket sized device.

Readius is very much a data centered mobile product, designed around eBooks, eNews, RSS feeds, and receiving email messages. It is optimized for mobility by allowing instant access to hundreds of books from your pocket, while the integrated 3.5G data connection ensures high speed downloads of pre-ordered content and instant news updates on the go.

Read: Readius
Read: N.Y. Times

Affluenza;
An unhappy condition of overload,
debt, anxiety and waste resulting
from the dogged pursuit of more.

PBS Documentary: Part 1/6 (above)
PBS Documentary: Part 2/6
PBS Documentary: Part 3/6
PBS Documentary: Part 4/6
PBS Documentary: Part 5/6
PBS Documentary: Part 6/6

One of the producers of the documentary (Dave Wann) has also written a book called: Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle. The book follows along similar lines to "Affluenza," and discusses concerns of overconsumption, and it's effect on personal, community and planet level.

Stunning June 2008 Car Sales Data:

Ford Down 28%

GM Down 27%

Ford SUV's Down 50%

Chrysler Minivans Down 46%

After being #1 (for ever, years and years) the Ford F series truck sales finished at #5!

Read: June Vehicle Sales
.
Finance: GM Stock
Finance: Ford Stock

A few days ago I posted 2008 Most Fuel Efficient Cars. And here is another way of looking at the numbers:

.
Now lets look at it this way; on average we may drive 10,000 miles per year (50% City & 50% Highway), and let's just average out gas at $4/gallon (Current in my city it is $4.69). So the yearly numbers become:
.

Toyota Prius Hybrid / City: 48 mpg / Highway: 45 mpg
Yearly Fuel Cost: $860

Typical Small Car / City: 30 mpg / Highway: 35 mpg
Yearly Fuel Cost: $1,238

Typical Large Car / City: 20 mpg / Highway: 30 mpg
Yearly Fuel Cost: $1,666

Typical Mini-Van / City: 18 mpg / Highway: 25 mpg
Yearly Fuel Cost: $1,911

Typical Large SUV / City: 12 mpg / Highway: 20 mpg
Yearly Fuel Cost: $2,666

With these simple parameters; if you switch from a large SUV to a Toyota Prius, and even if you drive a modest 10,000 miles per year, you'll save about $1,800 per year.

Here is the list of most fuel efficient vehicles in 2008:

#1: Toyota Prius Hybrid / City: 48 mpg / Highway: 45 mpg

#2: Honda Civic Hybrid / City: 40 mpg / Highway: 45 mpg

#3: Nissan Altima Hybrid / City: 35 mpg / Highway: 33 mpg

#4: Ford Escape Hybrid / City: 34 mpg / Highway: 30 mpg

#5: Mazda Tribute Hybrid / City: 34 mpg / Highway: 30 mpg

#6: Mercury Mariner Hybrid / City: 34 mpg / Highway: 30 mpg

#7: Toyota Camry Hybrid / City: 33 mpg / Highway: 34 mpg

#8: Toyota Yaris / City: 29 mpg / Highway: 36 mpg

Flooding in Wisconsin has been devastating ;-(

By cartoonist Stuart Carlson.

Alian Robert knaown as "French Spiderman" decided to climb 52 stories of New York Times building !

After reaching the top, and getting arrested he showed a banner that read "Global warming kills more people than 9/11 every week."

The New York Times describes Robert as a:

46-year-old stuntman famous for scaling structures like the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the Sydney Opera House in Australia and the Eiffel Tower and Montparnasse Tower in Paris. He wore a T-shirt with his name and the address of a Web site (thesolutionissimple.org), exercise pants and climbing shoes. He had long blond hair.

An here are the videos:

...

View: The Solution is Simple
His Website: Alian Robert

BAHRAIN WORLD TRADE CENTER in the city of Manama has Giant Wind Turbines! The turbines supplement 15% of energy requirements of the building.

The 50-story complex contains two identical towers that rise over 240 meters (790 feet) in height. The sail-shaped buildings offer a visually striking silhouette, appropriately referencing the maritime environment of this small Middle Eastern island.

This is one cool Green Building ;-)

Dr. Eugene Tsui, a Northern California architect whose design inspiration comes from nature.

Green Daily Sustainability Series: Shelter, Part 5 from Alexia Prichard on Vimeo.

..

Read: Biomimicry is a new discipline that studies nature’s best ideas
and then imitates these designs and processes to solve human problems.

Watch: (TED) Janine Benyus: 12 sustainable design ideas from nature