A Wexelblat disaster is a disaster caused by the interaction of natural phenomena with human technology. Specifically, it refers to a class of disasters occurring because humans build systems to human scale that affect the planet and climate, which operate at very different scales. A natural event damages some technological device or installation, and its failure precipitates much greater harm than the initial event. For instance, a storm may cause an oil tanker to sink, causing oil to spill out, causing massive damage to marine and coastal ecosystems. Wexelblat disasters are infrastructural in nature, rather than merely external. They are collapse, implosion, and failure type events, rather than explosive, razing type events. An example is extensive flooding in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina's damage to that city's levees.
Wexelblat disasters are named after Alan Wexelblat, a graduate of the MIT Media Lab. The original coinage, offered by Wexelblat himself, was "Viridian Disaster", in reference to the Viridian Design Movement led by Bruce Sterling, a science fiction writer, futurist, and activist who has focused his non-fiction writings since the mid-1990s (as well as at least one novel) on what was first called the greenhouse effect and is now more commonly called global warming or man-made climate change.
Bruce Sterling for a while used structures such as " Wexelblat-style Viridian Disaster" , but eventually shifted to "Wexelblat Disaster", and that coinage subsequently entered broader use. The concept and some explanation are also used in a book on the Katrina hurricane disaster in New Orleans . Wexelblat himself is somewhat chagrined by the association of his family name with a class of disasters.
Wexelblat disasters are named after Alan Wexelblat, a graduate of the MIT Media Lab. The original coinage, offered by Wexelblat himself, was "Viridian Disaster", in reference to the Viridian Design Movement led by Bruce Sterling, a science fiction writer, futurist, and activist who has focused his non-fiction writings since the mid-1990s (as well as at least one novel) on what was first called the greenhouse effect and is now more commonly called global warming or man-made climate change.
Bruce Sterling for a while used structures such as " Wexelblat-style Viridian Disaster" , but eventually shifted to "Wexelblat Disaster", and that coinage subsequently entered broader use. The concept and some explanation are also used in a book on the Katrina hurricane disaster in New Orleans . Wexelblat himself is somewhat chagrined by the association of his family name with a class of disasters.
Ainsley Brooks (born July 9, 1989 in Portsmouth, England) is a British actor and an occasional Extra on the British soap opera Eastenders.
Ainsley was first seen on TV on Top of the Pops as a presenter during the first few weeks of 2003 but was later replaced by Fearne Cotton.
Ainsley then worked for BBC's Radio One as one of the afternoon hosts from 2pm-4pm every saturday but finished after he got an offer from Eastenders in 2004 to play the part of a recurring background role and playing the part of Sonia's Cousin in 2005, towards the end of 2005 ainsley appeared in a short film "Just a Little While" which was shown on BBC4.
In 2007, Ainsley has made several appearances on Eastenders appearing in the background, Ainsley has also appeared on Big Brother's Big Mouth discussing who he wanted to win the 2007 series of Big Brother on 26 July,2007.
Ainsley confirmed on his Myspace that he is playing the part of an Irish Teenager in the upcoming 2007 film 'Abrafo'.
Ainsley was first seen on TV on Top of the Pops as a presenter during the first few weeks of 2003 but was later replaced by Fearne Cotton.
Ainsley then worked for BBC's Radio One as one of the afternoon hosts from 2pm-4pm every saturday but finished after he got an offer from Eastenders in 2004 to play the part of a recurring background role and playing the part of Sonia's Cousin in 2005, towards the end of 2005 ainsley appeared in a short film "Just a Little While" which was shown on BBC4.
In 2007, Ainsley has made several appearances on Eastenders appearing in the background, Ainsley has also appeared on Big Brother's Big Mouth discussing who he wanted to win the 2007 series of Big Brother on 26 July,2007.
Ainsley confirmed on his Myspace that he is playing the part of an Irish Teenager in the upcoming 2007 film 'Abrafo'.
Orxata Sound System (sometimes shortened to orxata, tributing the typical Valencian drink, Orxata) are an electro band formed in Valencia, Spain in 2003 combining different styles of music such as electronic music, Drum and Bass, Dub and Ragga adding the Valencian cant d'estil and traditional music.
The band only sings in Catalan. Their lyrics are loaded with a strong social criticism. Their songs are released under a Creative Commons license and the band themselves upload their own albums to file sharing P2P networks.
History
Orxata Sound System was born to former members of a Ska Punk band, Fàstic, when they felt strongly about mixing the Valencian cant d'estil with electronic music. It wasn't until the first gig that the bassist from Fusion, Budell joined them, with whom the band acquired the shape of a trio with acoustic elements (vocals), electric (bass) and electronic (computer). They kept touring all the Valencian Country until they recorded, in 2005, their first demo, which included 5 songs and 2 intros with collaboratios by Ovidi Twins and singers of Ki Sap and Pomada.
In March of that same year, three more members joined on vocals, and another on trumpets ending with the temporal collaboration of the trumpet player of Brudell. Orxata has performed most of their gigs with this line-up, which is the current one.
Discography
* orxata (self-produced, 2005): first demo, downloadable via
* Orxata Sound System 1.0 (Under a Creative Commons license, 2007): First studio album, downloadable via
Related Links
* official website including a special area for members
* Orxata's profile on MySpace
* Official website before 2006
ca:Orxata Sound System
The band only sings in Catalan. Their lyrics are loaded with a strong social criticism. Their songs are released under a Creative Commons license and the band themselves upload their own albums to file sharing P2P networks.
History
Orxata Sound System was born to former members of a Ska Punk band, Fàstic, when they felt strongly about mixing the Valencian cant d'estil with electronic music. It wasn't until the first gig that the bassist from Fusion, Budell joined them, with whom the band acquired the shape of a trio with acoustic elements (vocals), electric (bass) and electronic (computer). They kept touring all the Valencian Country until they recorded, in 2005, their first demo, which included 5 songs and 2 intros with collaboratios by Ovidi Twins and singers of Ki Sap and Pomada.
In March of that same year, three more members joined on vocals, and another on trumpets ending with the temporal collaboration of the trumpet player of Brudell. Orxata has performed most of their gigs with this line-up, which is the current one.
Discography
* orxata (self-produced, 2005): first demo, downloadable via
* Orxata Sound System 1.0 (Under a Creative Commons license, 2007): First studio album, downloadable via
Related Links
* official website including a special area for members
* Orxata's profile on MySpace
* Official website before 2006
ca:Orxata Sound System
Stephanie and Maria Lewis, better known as ‘Starbrights’ are a stylish, professional singing duo based in West London. They have many years of experience performing in weddings, festivals, shows, hotels, piano bars, parties and other functions. These two young singer-songwriters have been performing from a very early age starting off from the local church choir in Malta and building their way up to becoming professional performers in their own right. They are renowned for their beautiful harmonies and have entertained a variety of different audiences from private, civil and religious weddings to high conference events and corporate establishments. They also performed in various countries including Italy, Malta, Tunisia, Australia and various venues in the UK. Starbrights have also won several contests including best singer title awards and outstanding performers of the year! They have appeared on several TV shows and were interviewed on numerous radio shows. Their latest album ‘Friends Forever’ which they recorded at the Premises Studios in London may be purchased online via their official website www.starbrights.com . They are currently singing in various events and venues in and around London.
Official website: www.starbrights.com
Myspacelink: www.myspace.com/starbrightslondon
Official website: www.starbrights.com
Myspacelink: www.myspace.com/starbrightslondon