Bravely Done

As The Roots have grown in stature in both the hip-hop community and in the larger international music scene, their sound has gotten leaner, more exacting, and much more direct.

If you are the proud owner of a brand new iPhone 4 you could be one of many people who have discovered that if you hold it in your palm, [as you would of course,] the slight electrical charge of your skin creates a connection between the two antennae that wrap around the device, causing dropped connections.

So here's the fix via Fast Company.

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Got a bunch of photovoltaic cells and a vehicle that requires electricity? Toshiba's thought up a process dubbed "Charge Grid" by which you can juice the latter efficiently. When the sun's out and the electrons are flowing, it doesn't pay to put them into the grid, so this system stores them in a rechargeable battery ready to rapidly charge your EV. It's a few years away so you have time to get those solar panels on your roof..

Yes it's June 16 and it's still dumping pow on Mt Hood... pic of Timberline by @peterfoleyusa found on Twitpic.

A fully-functioning radio from Afrigadget via @adognamedpants

By Robert Ham: On the one hand, it is disappointing to hear how sedate Blitzen Trapper has become relative to the eclectic start that sparked the band's recent successes. Their first batch of albums found this sextet jumping joyfully all over the map from blues-y acoustic breakdowns to trudging T.

16 year old Abby Sunderland is attempting to be the world's youngest person to sail solo around the globe. A couple of days ago she lost contact with her handlers as she was battling rough seas in the Indian Ocean and it was feared that her boat, Wild Eyes, had capsized, as a transmitter on her wet suit was activated suggesting she had fallen overboard.