Brian L. Hill

The first Professor of Physics at the University of Queensland, Professor Thomas Parnell, began an experiment in 1927 to illustrate that everyday materials can exhibit quite surprising properties. The experiment demonstrates the fluidity and high viscosity of pitch, a derivative of tar once used for waterproofing boats. At room temperature pitch feels solid – even brittle – and can easily be shattered with a blow from a hammer. It’s quite amazing then, to see that pitch at room temperature is actually fluid!

Behold: The Pitch Drop Experiement! After heating some pitch, Parnell allowed it to cool for three years. It took eight years for the first drop of pitch to travel from the funnel to the beaker below.

82 years later, the 9th drop in this experiment is only just now forming. Professor Parnell is long gone, but his experiment changed our perception and understanding of a fairly common substance. The University of Queensland now has a live webcam at the link above, where you can watch as this ninth drop makes its way. (In case you have a LOT of time on your hands.)

Innovation and breakthroughs are not always instantaneous. Sometimes innovation takes years before it is recognized.

Kinda…

Boing Boing: You are someone’s favorite uncle who taught them how to build their own toys. You are someone’s “cool” aunt who sends the amazing Birthday gifts from far-off lands. You know swear words in fifteen languages. You have built seven completely different and contest-winning party costumes around a single vintage fez.

…

Daring Fireball: You know three ways to tell Helvetica from Arial.

Larry Dignan at ZDNet states that new updates to Google’s privacy policy fall into one of three categories: the good, the bad and the totally scary.

In a blog post, Google outlined the changes. These changes are the enterprise Holy Grail in many respects. Companies everywhere want to break down product walls to get a 360 degree view of customers. The difference with Google is reach and it is actually succeeding. In a nutshell, Google is:

• Making its privacy policies easier to read.
• Aggregating data across products for Google and user experience.
• And arguing that it’s easier to take your data and go somewhere else.

Sebastian Thrun announced that he is leaving Stanford to teach computer science courses online, for free. The new venture is called Udacity, and Thrun hopes to someday teach as many as 500,000 students.

Like the Stanford course, Udacity will be focused on computer science courses taught at the university level and free of charge. There are currently two courses available. The first, CS 101: Building a Search Engine, will require no previous knowledge of programming and aims to teach the fundamentals of computer science in seven weeks. It will be taught by Thrun and University of Virginia professor Dave Evans. The second course is a follow up to the Stanford AI course called CS 373: Programming a Robotic Car, and will certainly touch on Thrun’s passion of driverless vehicles.

TechCrunch’s Rip Empson has a profile of Bizness Apps and other services that allow businesses to easily create their own mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Today, Bizness Apps is adding even more customization options to its app builder, as it launches “Bizness Apps Premium”, with the goal of enabling SMBs to take full control over their app’s look and feel. The new Premium plan offers customization of an app’s layout, colors, buttons, header, icons, fonts, and it won’t cost users anything extra.

Of course, Bizness Apps is not the only startup out there offering DIY mobile apps. Readers also may want to check out Cashew, which lets you build your own apps for iOS and Android and preview them on your mobile device — or AppsGeyser, a free, DIY service that allows users to convert any web content into apps for Android, and monetize that content.

Wendy Brache wrote a great post over at the Personal Branding Blog on the role that passion play when it comes to inspiring change. When it comes to offering your services to others, what you have to offer is less influential than why you are offering it.

We follow these leaders because of why they do what they do–because of what they believe, and because we want to stand up for (and prove that) we believe the same thing about the world.

When you look at your personal brand, what do you offer, and why do you offer it? Why do you do what you do? What is your true passion? What do you believe?

Mitch Joel, president of Twist Image, says that while it is easy to look at industries undergoing massive change (journalism, entertainment, advertising, retail, publishing) and proclaim, “Adapt or Die,” established businesses need to balance their legacy with plans for the future.

The fallout of these disruptive times in business shows us that we’re still in the middle of it. The challenge for business is to not remain stuck in the past and not get too comfortable with how things are today. Pushing that further, you can’t only be focused on the future (because we all know how bad we are at predicting that). Is it time to take chances? Absolutely. Is it time to blow everything up and start over? Maybe for some, but not for many. Is it time to kill even the profitable business units because you know there’s no future in it? That’s a very tough call. Regardless of what we – as business owners – are capable of, there are bigger forces at play: technology, connectivity, mobility, analytics, data, creativity, commerce, publishing and more will continue to reshape and change how we do business. My guess is that the next five to ten years are going to make the past decade’s disruption seem minor in comparison.

Etta James passed away due to complications from leukemia.

MailChimp is the service I use for my newsletter. Yesterday they rolled out a new service that allows publishers to easily find other publishers for potential strategic alliances, co-marketing, etc. While it seems like an awesome potential, this service would violate my own policy of sharing contact information with other parties – something you might want to consider.

Finally, we have all the pieces we need to build Wavelength: a MailChimp service that uses a massive amount of email data to help you find publishers who share something in common with you:

Basically, Wavelength analyzes your MailChimp list, then compares it to all other MailChimp lists (really, really fast). It looks for subscriber overlap, then recommends similar publishers by showing you screenshots of the email campaigns they’ve sent.

According to Matt Lynley of Business Insider, Twitter’s acquisition of Summify marks a clear change in strategy. Summify analyzes and curates social media data, creating personalized news digests.

There is one strange element to Twitter’s pivot. In 2011, it added Mike McCue to its board. McCue is best known for selling Tellme to Microsoft for close to $800 million.

But lately, McCue’s been working on a startup called Flipboard. Flipboard, like Summify or even Twitter’s own “discover” feature, is a tool that automatically scans social media sites and curates them for easy consumption.

Twitter is going into competition with one of its board members.

I’m going to go out on a limb here – I don’t think that bridges are required to withstand the impact of a 312-foot freighter.

In the pictures, the 312-foot Delta Mariner idles, still partially in the bridge’s path, and clearly looks much too large to fit beneath the aging Eggner Ferry Bridge, which crosses the Kentucky Lake Reservoir.

The cargo vessel was carrying space rocket parts for the United Launch Alliance, intended for a vehicle that was scheduled to be shot into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Wreck: The cargo ship Delta Mariner slammed into the bridge spanning the Kentucky Lake in southwestern Kentucky Friday, causing the bridge to collapse

Following the embarrassing saga involving bond contracts for improvements at Southwestern College leading to numerous allegations of criminal activity, the school’s board has begun the process of terminating contracts. The contracts in place involve Seville Construction Services and BCA Architects.

On Jan. 11, the board voted to place those contracts on hold while it continued its internal investigation into bid discrepancies, and the Southwestern College Foundation, an auxiliary nonprofit aimed at providing student scholarships.

The governing board voted unanimously in closed session Wednesday to begin the legal steps for terminating a $2.8 million contract with Seville Construction Services and a $5.3 million with BCA Architects involving Proposition R projects approved by voters in 2008.

The bulk of the funds have already been paid to the contractors.

ASHRAE’s president, Ron Jarnagin, announced the culmination of the organization’s rebranding, which includes a new logo, a new tagline, a new website and increased focus on global reach. In addition, ASHRAE prepared a video that tells the organization’s story.

First, and most visible, is a refreshening of the ASHRAE logo. Market research showed us that the logo had a dated brand presence (the logo was created in 1959 to recognize the merger between The American Society of Refrigerating Engineers and the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers) and that we needed a more modern look that fully reflects the evolving structure of the Society and our aspirations. Along with this logo, we have created an ASHRAE Logo Guide document to ensure that we maintain a consistent brand image.

In addition, we have created a tagline to help explain to outside audiences the expanded role of ASHRAE in the world around us. “Shaping Tomorrow’s Built Environment Today” presents ASHRAE as the dynamic and innovative Society it is today and promises our members, the industry and the world that whatever the future brings in the built community, ASHRAE will be at the forefront for research and guidance.

Lastly, we are doing business as “ASHRAE” vs. using our full legal name of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. Use of ASHRAE reflects our global membership and that our services will continue evolving globally.

Adjacent mid-rise buildings collapsed following an explosion, with at least two reported fatalaties. A few months ago, an explosion caused by a gas leak in a restaurant resulted in the death of three people.

Two buildings collapsed in downtown Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, in the latest incident highlighting the failure of authorities to improve the city’s infrastructure amid preparations to host soccer’s World Cup and the Olympics.

Dante Autullo, of Orland Park, IL, was constructing a shed when his nail gun misfired. He thought that the nail grazed his skull. After feeling nauseous following a nap, he decided to visit the hospital whereupon he learned the truth of his nearly fatal injury.

( Christ Medical Center & Hope Children’s Hospital / Associated Press ) – This photo provided by Christ Medical Center & Hope Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn,, Ill. on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 shows an X-ray of a nail embedded in Dante Autullo’s brain. Autullo unknowingly shot a nail into his skull, and posted a picture of the X-ray on Facebook during his ambulance ride between hospitals for surgery.

My father accidentally shot himself in the wrist when his nail gun misfired. He instinctively pulled the nail out before any swelling began. Emergency personnel and doctors were amazed, as the nail merely pushed aside the bones in his wrist without severing any major blood vessels or nerve tissue. Nail guns are dangerous, kids.

While San Diego topped the list both in the number of installations and generating capacity, the city was fell short in terms of number of installations per resident.

The report was published by Environment California and is available for download.

San Diego has 4,507 rooftop systems that have been installed, compared to a little over 4,000 in runner-up Los Angeles, a city with a much larger population, according to the report by Environment California.

San Jose, San Francisco and Fresno rounded-out the top five.

Within San Diego County, Escondido ranked 17th with 709 systems, Poway was 26th with 544 and El Cajon was 28th with 533.

In generating capacity, San Diego was tops with 36,775 kilowatts that are tied to the electrical grid, just ahead of Los Angeles. Poway ranked 41st, Escondido was 48th and Chula Vista 50th.

The Western Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health is trying to prevent further injuries and fatalities due to roofing falls, as work continues repairing tornado damage. OSHA requires fall protection for any work beginning at six feet off the ground.

Nineteen-year-old James Ivanov of Agawam died Jan. 11 at the scene of a tornado-damaged building in West Springfield’s Merrick section after falling four stories from the roof to the basement. He was working with a crew reframing the house at Union and George streets next door to 687 Union St. where a woman died in the June 1 tornado shielding her daughter.

The Springfield office of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death, which has been ruled accidental. Mary E. Hoye, director of the office, has declined to say whether Ivanov was wearing a harness or taking other safety measures, citing the ongoing nature of her investigation, which may not wrap up for about a month.

However, Hoye would say that it is important to take such measures such as using a harness or guardrails to prevent falls.

Cited as an innovator in San Diego residential development, Curt Noland gained prominence and awards for San Elijo Hills and Aviara. I have fond memories walking every last mile of fencing at Aviara as part of a construction defect case years ago. What an amazing development. Noland passed away last week from cancer at just 55 years of age.

Mr. Noland worked as director of development in the 1990s for Aviara Land Associates and joined HomeFed in 1998 where he was vice president and senior development officer, managing entitlement, design, development and sale of several projects. “He was a skillful negotiator, but always valued honesty and integrity. In all the years that I knew Curt, I never saw him lose his temper or speak harshly to anyone,” said friend David Hymer of Luce Forward.

Named the Geisel house after university benefactor, Audrey Geisel (wife of the late Dr. Seuss), the home was originally designed by William Lumpkins.

Located on 7 acres in La Jolla Farms, Geisel House been closed since 2004 when it was deemed uninhabitable due to seismic and system deficiencies, including plumbing and electrical problems and the need for canyon edge slope stabilization.

The entire house renovation cost, estimated a $10.5 million, will be covered by gifts including $1.5 million from the UC Office of the President to complete the project from the Searles Fund, an endowment used to fund general purposes of the university which cannot be covered by state funds.

Noting the Geisel family has always been a friend and supporter of UCSD, Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said, “Preserving the architectural treasure that is Geisel House is so important, and we are most grateful for her generosity, and her friendship.”

ArchDaily’s Irina Vinnitskaya profiles the USGBC Center for Green Schools, which was championed by the Georgia chapter of the USGBC. By focusing on health, education and use of funds, the organization has developed best practices for creating better educational facilities.

From the economic standpoint, these high performance schools, though present a high up-front cost for construction, ultimately save $5 million dollars in operating costs over the life-time of the school.  The health and educational benefits speak for themselves.  These facilities have sustainable strategies comparable to LEED Certification and this provides a healthy environment through natural light, ventilation, thermal comfort and sound-proofing.  All of these components help children concentrate, be more attentive and feel more at ease in their environment.

Washington construction attorney, Paul Rosner discusses Chaussee v. Maryland Cas. Co.

On January 9, 2012, Washington Federal District Court Judge John Coughenour ruled that a $5.75 million covenant judgment settlement of a condominium construction defect lawsuit was unreasonable, that the reasonable settlement value of all of the plaintiff homeowners association’s claims was $1,921,525.70, and that the value of the association’s breach of fiduciary duty claim, the only potentially covered claim, was $300,000.

Scott Wolfe, Jr. writes at Zlien’s Construction Lien Blog:

Sending notice (or filing a mechanics lien without properly identifying the true owner) can be fatal to your notice or lien claim. While there are limited exceptions, most states are not very forgiving when a notice or lien mistakenly misidentifies the property owner. The entire point of preliminary notice requirements and the filing requirement of a mechanics lien is essentially to put the property owner on notice about your claim, and its impossible to provide this notice without knowing the actual property owner.

Ahlers & Cressman’s Bruce Cohen reports that the arbitration provision included in the Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) between homebuilder Quadrant Corporation and homeowners is enforceable.

In Townsend v. Quadrant Corp., several Quadrant homeowners and their children filed suit against the developer alleging “outrage, fraud, unfair business practices, misrepresentation and breach of warranty.” The homeowners alleged that Quadrant knowingly engaged in shoddy workmanship resulting in construction defects that caused personal injuries relating to “mold, pests and poisonous gasses.” Quadrant filed a motion to transfer the claims to arbitration relying upon the arbitration clause in the PSA.

Seismic trenching is underway at San Diego City College to map faults, impacting final decisions regarding building usage.

The final design of San Diego City College’s $80 million renovation of four existing buildings will be determined by seismic trenching meant to learn how far onto the campus two downtown earthquake faults extend.

The trenching already has scotched plans to remodel one 15,000-square foot building, which was to be transformed from classroom space into a bookstore, a student center and other uses. Excavation and analysis completed in the fall determined that one of the faults almost certainly extends under that structure, known as the M building.

ENR’s Erin Joyce has a profile up of Julian Clayton, vice president of technology and products at Crescent Construction Services. Clayton developed an iPad app for construction consultants that was featured on Apple’s website last October.

Rather than simply developing an app for the sake of developing an app, Clayton’s app development was designed to address specific problems: “There are so many mistakes made at every point of the process. We had one example where there was $50,000 worth of lighting sitting in the back of a store that [owners] didn’t know about because they had stuck to one paper document that was flawed.”

Clayton’s work building apps for smaller audiences reflects a trend in the industry to make apps simple and, if possible, specific. For example, Clayton says, a lot of firms are conducting survey work on empty real estate for potential re-use projects. Paper-based checklists and film-based cameras are still common on many of these jobs. His development team is building an app that helps users pull a variety of documents (email, PDFs, Word) and then generates a report along with the punchlisting data. “Many jobs like this are not getting consistent info,” he says.

Richard Defendorf, writing at GreenBuildingAdvisor.com, announces the newly launched independent forum for all things Passive House in the US. While the forum will offer a lot of resources, one thing it won’t offer is fuel for the fire involving Passivhaus Institut and Passive House Institute US.

Members of Passive House California, Passive House New York, and Passive House North-West last year cofounded a group called American Passive House Network and, on January 16, announced the rollout of its website as a resource for all things Passivhaus. APHN membership is limited to regional Passivhaus groups — individuals and companies cannot be members — but everyone from curious consumers to industry professionals are welcome to use the site.

Even though it is newly launched, the APHN site is already stocked with a healthy list of Passivhaus-related news items on its home page; a list of dozens of training sessions on its News & Events page; a breakdown of regional news on its Regional Focus page; links to Passivhaus blogs in the U.S., Canada, and Europe; a resource page for training; and contacts for both building and consultant certifications.

BuildingGreen.com’s Peter Yost on the new ASTM E2556 / E2556M – 10:

It’s not easy being a weather-resistive barrier (WRB): it has to stop liquid water, be tough and not tear, but also be flexible to wrap around building elements. And it often needs to be vapor-permeable to promote drying.

In the past, manufacturers could cherry-pick the standardized test to use to “qualify.” That’s how we ended up with industry acceptance of perforated and cross-woven housewrap that literally leaks like a sieve.

Now we have a new ASTM “Standard Specification for Vapor Permeable Flexible Sheet Water-Resistive Barriers Intended for Mechanical Attachment.” This standard also aligns with the latest version of the ICC-ES Acceptable Criteria (AC) 38–”Acceptance Criteria for Water-Resistive Barriers (PDF).”

ENR has a profile of Jack Moehle, the man who while director of UC Berkeley’s Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, spearheaded the development of the PEER Guidelines for Performance-Based Seismic Design of Tall Buildings.

A decade ago, Jack P. Moehle got a bee in his bonnet about the sorry state of the approvals process for performance-based seismic design of tall buildings. As a peer reviewer of several projects, he witnessed a contentious permitting process that pitted structural engineers against each other and worried many building officials. In at least one city, they were so wary of PBSD that they refused to consider any tall building designed using the high-end method, which its supporters see as the future of seismic engineering.

SDG&E, a longtime proponent of energy efficiency and solar energy in particular, raised controversy after proposing a “network use charge” for solar customers. Following a protest at the opening of the new Energy Innovation Center (an educational facility established by SDG&E to educate consumers), the Public Utilities Commission rejected the utility company’s proposed charge.

In October, SDG&E proposed to the California Public Utilities Commission that it be allowed to unbundle electricity rates to split the charges for the electric commodity and the charge for distributing that commodity, called a “network use charge,” sometimes referred to as an NUC. The charge would have had limited impact on traditional customers’ bills, but it would have added substantially to bills of residential and commercial customers with solar generators. Mark Ferron, the commissioner overseeing the proceeding, said the new charge violated key elements of state law.

“The NUC is outside of the scope of this proceeding,” Ferron wrote. “Therefore, SDG&E shall submit a revised rate design proposal and updated testimony that does not include the NUC.”