A9.com Maps

I’ve been looking for apartments on Craigslist and found the Web site A9.com Maps to be helpful. A9.com Maps, a subsidiary of Amazon, provides images of selected cities, block by block. The photos are taken from the street, from a perspective perpendicular to the flow of traffic on the street. Both sides of a block are usually documented.

Not all blocks have been covered (on the Web site, you can choose whether or not you want to see which blocks have been covered — otherwise you just get a street-level map image). I also found the interface a little confusing. And, of course, if you’re interested in seeing a place outside of the 24 cities currently listed on the site, the service isn’t going to do you much good.

But in terms of just getting a general sense for a neighborhood, in a city that I’m already familiar with, it’s nice to know what’s in the direct vicinity of a listed apartment. Is the neighborhood more industrial? In transition? Very trendy? Do the streets look uncomfortably deserted? Are there any trees?

Apartment Camping

The Orikaso Bowl

I’ve never gone camping before, but I’m endlessly fascinated with camping equipment. They feed into my dream that one day, I’ll own only so much that I can throw everything into a car and take off.

I also admire the design of some of these products. I recently saw the Orikaso Bowl at a sporting goods store. Orikaso, the company that makes the bowl, also sells foldable cups (it even has handles!) and plates. Awesome.

Then there are those nesting camping cooksets, where the pans can be pots and the lids double as plates. How ingenious is that?

On a completely different note, I found out about an effort similar to NYCares’ Winter Wishes program. Called Operation Santa Claus, the program originated with the USPS, which every year receives letters from kids addressed to Santa. In 1912, the Postmaster General authorized the use of these letters for “philanthropic purposes.”

If you wish to help answer one of these letters, you can visit Manhattan’s General Post Office at 421 8th Ave. (33rd and 8th) between now and Dec. 23, between the hours of 9-4:30 Mondays through Fridays except on Thursdays, 9-7 on Thursdays and 10-4 on Saturdays. You can also send donations, which will be used to throw a Christmas party for underprivileged kids.

The Wonder of Craigslist Pt. 2

I’ve become slightly addicted to Craigslist. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been visiting some of the forums, and I’m continually amazed at the stuff I see. It’s like an ever-improving cultural encyclopedia — for example, I learned that “420″ is slang for marijuana (did everyone know that already?).

I’ve been looking in Craigslist’s Wanted forum to see if I can unload any of my crap before I move. I also found this useful city-maintained Web site, which lists items accepted by various New York City nonprofits. You can donate your furniture to Furnish a Future, a free furniture bank for formerly homeless families. Other organizations accept everything from school and art supplies to bikes to tools.

Ethical Lapses in Recent Procedures

I keep meaning to post about the world’s first partial face transplant, which was performed in France earlier this month. Of course the procedure would be pioneered in France, I thought. One of the most disturbing films I’ve ever seen — Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face — came out of France. The movie is about a man who kidnaps a succession of young women so he can transplant their faces onto his daughter’s disfigured one.

Now the New York Times reports that there might have been ethical lapses in the case. The face donor might have committed suicide, and the patient might have tried to commit suicide as well, raising questions about whether she was mentally stable enough to consent to such a risky surgery.

The article also says this about the patient:

Whether her overdose was a suicide attempt or not, Ms. Dinoire’s doctors say that she had argued with one of her daughters earlier in the evening before taking the pills. She passed out on a sofa in her apartment as the pills took effect and her black Labrador, Tania, apparently tried to wake her, pawing at her face and eventually biting and chewing at her lips, nose and chin.

I can’t help but think of the movie Hannibal!

Questions have also been raised in another pioneering operation, this one in South Korea and involving stem cell research. I don’t know that much about it, only that there are questions about the egg donors (one of whom was? or possibly might be? a junior member of the research team, leading to speculation that she might have been pressured to donate). NPR also reported yesterday that one of the paper’s co-authors wants to remove his name from the paper due to his concerns about its accuracy.

Who Should Pay for Healthcare?

Tuesday’s Brian Lehrer Show will be a discussion of who pays for healthcare in the United States. Visit this Web site to download a copy of the Wal-Mart memo leaked last month. The memo includes possible strategies for reducing the company’s healthcare costs.