AOL takes (yet another) stab at being hyperlocal. This one’s called Patch and appears to be a cross between Examiner and Yelp. Will it get traction? It probably could, if they actually developed real partnerships with sites like Yelp and Angie’s List and local non-profits and and newspapers. We’ll see.

Imagine using a piano as a full ensemble of instruments, adding objects to the strings to create unique percussive sounds. Hauschka did, and while the piano itself can wind up looking less like a symphony instrument and more like that junk drawer in your kitchen, the sonic results are fascinating. NPR reports.

It seems to be viewing concepts and ideas through a local filter, then consolidating into a national map — as illustrated recently by 50 States, 50 Burgers, Generic Names for Soft Drinks, The United States of Movies and The United States of Television.

On that last one, I have to agree with several comments: Not going with South Park for Colorado is a big error. Respect their authoritye!

“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe.”
—Neil Gaiman

It’s Veterans Day, so I spent a few minutes poking around the Web site of the 95th Bomb Group, where my dad spent the lion’s share of his time in the war flying with the 412th Squadron.

I hadn’t been to the site in a while, and saw a new (to me) section of flight crew photos. Clicking on each of the 412th  links, I found this photo which, I later discovered, my brother had sent to the site.

Good stuff. Thanks to pilot Sutkowski for bringing ’em back alive. And thanks to all the vets on this Veterans Day 2010 — keep ’em flying.