The San Francisco Chronicle has an unusual little recycling story about a man on a crusade to recycle cork.
Roger Archey is promoting a pilot program for a major cork manufacturer that collects the discards from several wineries and restuarants in the Bay Area and runs drop-off centers. So far, he's collected more than 300,000. That's about a ton of cork. There's just one little problem:

Now the question is: What to do with that growing pile of corks? Amorim could recycle them into flooring, Ping-Pong paddles, insulation and other items, but the corks would have to be shipped to Portugal. A Missouri craftsman has offered to turn them into floor tiles, but that's also a long haul with a big carbon footprint. "I'm trying to focus on other options that are more local," Archey said. "Our mantra is to keep cork out of the landfills at all cost."

Find out more about the cork recycling program at www.recorkamerica.com.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's a cocktail of pop culture, a one-two punch that provides a dose of one of the latest music videos and a primer on the greatest viral video characters of the last several years.

From the band that brought us the infamous "Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly"in the 1990s comes "Pork and Beans," a catchy anthem to being true to thine own self, and a video filled with cameos of YouTube staples including the "dramatic chipmunk" and Miss South Carolina.

Watch the video and see how many you recognize. Then watch their videos.

Continue reading "How well do you know your viral videos?" »

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Barbara Correa, the blogger over at L.A. Mama, a parenting blog from the Los Angeles Daily News, has a post about about how to make sure your kids are drinking safe water at home and at school. She did a Q&A with Christopher Gavigan, who heads a Los Angeles organization called Healthy Child Healthy World, and is the author of a new book, "Healthy Child, Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home."

With the news about lead in the water and the plastic scare, what is a parent supposed to do about water? I try to avoid plastic bottles. But it's hard. You're traveling, you need water. Look at the label. You want number 1 or 5 in the label. The five-gallon jugs of water delivered by services are traditionally made of polycarbonate, which is number 7. (That's bad. Polycarbonates contain BPA and other nasty chemicals.)

But there are some that deliver water in glass. And there are those that deliver in containers that are 1 or 5.

So, what if you opt to not use plastic and go with tap water?
In the morning, let your tap run cold to flush the pipes, because lead can leech overnight. (The schools may not be doing it, but you can at home.)

RELATED POST:
How safe are your plastic bottles?

Posted by Daily Link at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alas, the legendary composer Earle Hagen has died Monday at age 88. Surely you remember the folksy television theme song for "The Andy Griffith Show," which he co-wrote and whistled. The Emmy winner ("I Spy," 1968) and Oscar nominee ("Let's Make Love," 1961) also wrote memorable themes for the shows "The Mod Squad," "That Girl" and the "Dick Van Dyke Show."

Need to listen to the songs to jog your memory? Go to TelevisionTunes.com and enter the show name to listen to a clip of the theme song.

For more information about Hagen's life and accomplishments, you can check out the Hagen fan site, The Best of All Worlds.

In the meantime, let's whistle some bars of "The Andy Griffith Show" theme song as a salute to Hagen.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

French adventurer Michel Fournier, 64, who wished to set the world skydiving record, saw his hopes float away at North Battleford, Saskatchewan on Tuesday when the helium balloon that was supposed to take him to death-defying heights for his feat, er, got away from him without him attached. The $200,000 balloon was supposed to take Fournier to a world-record height of 130,000 feet.

Fournier had hoped to break the record for the fastest and longest free fall, the highest parachute jump and the highest balloon flight. He also hoped to bring back data that will help astronauts and others survive in the highest of altitudes.

A former army paratrooper with more than 8,000 jumps under his belt, Fournier planned to be freefalling at a height three times higher than a commercial jetliner flies. A mountain climber would have to ascend the equivalent of four Mount Everests stacked one on top of the other.

To read up on Fournier, go to his site, Le Grand Saut (The Big Jump).

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So you just moved to a new neighborhood and want to explore the best jogging routes in the area. MapMyRun.com is a great place to start. All you need to do is plug in your ZIP code, and voila! A handy list pops up, complete with a map of the route, the distance and type of terrain, including ratings by other runners. You can also map your own run, keep track of your training schedule and find races in your area.

If you're getting pretty serious about long-distance running, you might need to find more than a route. Find a local running club to join. The site lists the groups by type (running, walking or triathlon) and location, though this link takes you directly to the Southern California options, which include several in Westchester and many in Los Angeles.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the ways America dealt with the Great Depression was by going to the movies. While no one thinks the current economic dip will mirror that disaster, higher gasoline prices make heading to the movies a cheap entertainment even at current movie prices. And for the summer lineup, First Showing is the place to start. It has trailers that go beyond just the big-budget studio films as well as alerts about coming projects and comment boards where you can rant and rave about the state of Hollywood and individual movies.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If a textbook isn't your cup of tea when it comes to learning about U.S. history, perhaps art can serve as your window to greater understanding of some of the key events and movements that helped shape our country and brought us to where we are today. You'll find this approach in the Picturing America Web site. The National Endowment for the Humanities produced the site, which is aimed at students but appeals to a wide audience, in conjunction with the American Library Association. Picturing America says it "strives to create a bridge between the history of our art and the story of our nation" through paintings, sculpture, architecture, crafts and photos.

You'll find images of the art and links that explain each piece in its historical context, from Gilbert Stuart's Lansdowne portrait of George Washington to the Dust Bowl-era photos of Dorothea Lange. If you want to know more about the program in schools, there's an introductory video, and If you're a teacher or just extremely interested in connecting with the art, you can download a resource booklet.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You probably know the sound of the theremin, or aetherphone, from horror and sci-fi movies like "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Mars Attacks!" That spooky oooEEEooooo.... that means something is about to leap out and take a bite of the hero? That's it.

Few instruments have the enduring pop-culture cachet of one of the world's first electronic instruments, developed by Russian inventor Léon Theremin and spread throughout the U.S. by sound pioneer Robert Moog. Musicians play the instrument by moving their hands near its antennae to change pitch and volume. Easy to learn but notoriously difficult to master, the theremin can imitate a variety of different sounds. For stories, news, information and more about this amazing instrument, visit thereminvox.com.

Plus, see it in action on YouTube:

• Gnarls Barkley tribute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW0B1sipLBI&NR=1
  
• Music from the film "Amelie": http://youtube.com/watch?v=d2tbdsblDFo
  
• Theme to "The Legend of Zelda": http://youtube.com/watch?v=nJYho56INKU
  
• Bonus — Cats love theremins: http://youtube.com/watch?v=hOL4sg4LPY0
  

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Things are not always what they seem. Sometimes, what we say or do seems to be the right choice when we may be wrong, or vice versa.

Four (or Five!) Reasons Why posts an entry every weekday on a culturally relevant topic, and posts short paragraphs of news items or data to back up its arguments.

For instance, a recent item dealt with how high food prices are putting the squeeze on food banks. Another item appeals to the working man or woman in all of us: Why a four-day work week and three-day weekends would be good for us and the Earth.

Environmental appeals are all the rage, but Four Reasons Why points out how some things we think of as "green" really don't help. Most of our recyclables end up in the trash. Our lifestyles and high disposable incomes promote heavy energy use and waste. And, while we know this but hate to admit it, bottled water is the new seal-clubbing.

Since it started last summer, Four Reasons Why has tackled plenty of topics. Run through them and amaze yourself.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Los Angeles-based and world-renowned architect Frank Gehry plans to move his office to El Segundo, so you might want to read up on him in case you happen to meet at the coffee shop.

Worldwide, his impossible-to-ignore work (even more amazing considering that he is well known for sticking to his budgets) has made him a "starchitect."

But he's been criticized for his buildings' functionless forms and possible environmental hazards (the metallic Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles was reflecting and concentrating sunlight and heat onto the surrounding streets, creating glare and causing sunburns).

A resident of Santa Monica, Gehry's architectural fingerprints are visible all over the L.A. area, including the former Santa Monica Place (the site is currently being renovated), the Venice Beach House and the Loyola University Law School. The school will take you on a virtual tour of that gem.

Another of Gehry's most well-known (and cutest -- thanks to that floral pup outside) landmarks is the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. And you don't have to shell out airfare to see that one, either. Take a guided virtual tour of the "emblematic" site.

Posted by Daily Link at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is your dog the perfect pooch? You might want to consider this opportunity. The Associated Press reports:

A biotech company announced Wednesday that it will clone the dogs of the five highest bidders in a series of online auctions. Opening bids start at $100,000 for the service by Mill Valley-based BioArts International.

BioArts chief executive Lou Hawthorne formerly ran Genetic Savings & Clone, which offered to clone pet cats for $50,000 but folded in 2006 because few were willing to pay so much.

But Hawthorne said another service he provided -- storing pet DNA for future possible clones -- showed him the market for dog clones was strong.

"The average dog owner has a different relationship with his dog than the average cat owner," Hawthorne said. "The level of intensity on the dog side just dwarfed what we saw on the cat side."

To conduct the clonings, BioArts has partnered with a South Korean team that created three clones of Hawthorne's family dog, Missy, who died in 2002.

The team was led by Hwang Woo-suk, who scandalized the international scientific community in 2005 when his breakthrough human cloning research was found to have been faked. But his current endeavor has been verified.

Tests found that DNA samples taken from Missy and the three other dogs appeared to belong to the same individual.

Hawthorne said that after spending 15 years with Missy, he is taking pleasure in seeing her mischievous streak in her clones. They also like steamed broccoli -- just as she did.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With gasoline prices flirting with $4 a gallon, experts don't think many Americans are planning to travel very far over Memorial weekend.

So one option is the backyard barbecue -- but if you're a newbie whose dad never relinquished the grill except to make you clean it, you could probably use some advice.

Barbecue'n on the Internet provides guidance in finding the right grill so that when you visit Lowe's, the Home Depot or Target, you won't be at the mercy of a salesperson.

The site also offers recipes, experts' tricks of the trade, the top seven do's of barbecuing and tools beyond the grill that will make barbecuing easier.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spices feeling a little flat?

Worried your containers aren't eco-friendly?

The Daily Green offers six steps to clear the clutter and the chemicals from your cabinets.

It's not just about tidying up your shelves. The solutions also focus on cleaning up your diet and your shopping choices.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Carnegie Mellon University researchers hope Web surfers will spend their free time playing Internet-based games to help other people's and businesses' computers get smarter.

The researchers have launched a site with five games designed to help computers with tasks they can't automatically do. The tasks include improving computer searches for images or audio clips.

For example, if you search on the Web for "sad songs," a search engine will generally show you links to audio files containing "sad" in the filename. But by getting people to describe audio clips as sad in online games like Tag a Tune, researchers can improve searches for audio files.

Other games include ESP, in which opposing players are shown a picture and try to guess what words the other player will use to describe the image.

Players don't communicate with one another or see one another's answers; the games tell them just that they've made a match.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Photo: Associated Press

On Wednesday, Yves Rossy, a Swiss pilot known by some as "Fusion Man," took to the sky in a set of rocket-powered wings. According to Wikipedia, "While work with jet packs to propel humans dates back as far as World War II, his is the first contraption to also have wings." Rossy's victory over gravity is just one of many successes in humankind's struggle to fly. Where are those personal jetpacks we were promised, anyway?

Mac Montandon, in his book "Jetpack Dreams: One Man's Up and Down (But Mostly Down) Search for the Greatest Invention That Never Was," covers the colorful pop history and science of jetpacks, from comic-book dreams of the '50s to Bill Suitor's 1966 Disneyland blastoff and subsequent flight at the 1984 Olympics. Montandon also covered the 2006 Rocketbelt Convention in Niagara Falls, New York, for BoingBoing.

Want to read more about Fusion Man? Check out his homepage.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're stuck indoors but want to see a slice of the great outdoors, check out the panoramic views of San Pedro's Averill Park gazebo and pond, Cabrillo Beach Pier, Korean Bell of Friendship, Ports O' Call Village and White Point Park.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's a great day in the South Bay and Harbor Area, and you're ready to get the family out of the house to work off some excess energy and have an impromptu picnic. You just can't bear the thought of going to the same old park you and the kids have been to a thousand times before, but how do you find a good spot without driving around and wasting gallons of precious gas? We're here to help with some of the Web sites that will clue you in on parks and recreation facilities in the area. Some just list what types of park facilities are available, but many offer photos to give you a clearer picture or provide maps to help you get there. Here are some of the most helpful sites we found. If we're missing something, let us know. Meanwhile, have fun and save some of that chicken and pie for us.

We'll start with a good example from Torrance. Go here for a map of sites and photos of most of the parks. A quick reference guide will tell you what kinds of facilities are available at each site.

Elsewhere, try these:

Carson: Most of the parks site is under construction, but you can find links for Carson swimming pools.
Hawthorne
Hermosa Beach
Rancho Palos Verdes
Redondo Beach
(look for the interactive parks map).
Los Angeles City (you can search by ZIP Code)
Los Angeles County (search by ZIP Code)
Manhattan Beach
Rolling Hills Estates (has some very basic information)
Rancho Palos Verdes

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When lifelong San Pedro resident Erika Sogliuzzo found a nail salon she loved, she wanted to tell the world about it. And so, a blog was born.

On SP Good and Bad, the 37-year-old mom of 2-year-old twins recommends the best shops, eats and services according to her inner circle of gal pals. So far, she's covered nail salons, eyebrow groomers of various sorts, gift shops and Mexican restaurants. This week's poll covers dry cleaners, so feel free to weigh in, if you think you've got the inside scoop on the best laundress in San Pedro.

Read on for a Q&A with Erika and links to her best stuff.

Continue reading "Girls' Guide to San Pedro" »

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When President Teddy Roosevelt decided in 1907 that the U.S. needed to flex its growing naval might, he did it by painting 16 new Atlantic Fleet warships white and sending them on a voyage around the world lasting from December 1907 to February 1909. Today's Annual Armed Forces Day Parade and Celebration in Torrance commemorates the 100th anniversary of the arrival of what later came to be known as the Great White Fleet in Southern California in April 1908, which caused a sensation.

The Great White Fleet Website celebrates the voyage in thorough, colorful detail, including biographies of the captains, original postcards and other memorabilia.

The U.S. Navy's site contains text from original newspaper accounts of the fleet's arrival in various cities, as well as a brief film with rare footage of the ships.

RELATED POSTS:
Thanking our troops
Ernie Pyle's columns
Find Vietnam vet records
Vietnam War memorial

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If the Armed Forces Day activities in Torrance on Saturday have you in a military frame of mind, you can visit one of 19 military memorials in the South Bay to pay your respects to those who have served the country. Check our map of the memorials for details and directions.

Or read on for a text list.

Continue reading "South Bay military memorials" »

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did you feel a little shaky Wednesday morning?

Turns out a 2.6-magnitude quake hit off the coast of Manhattan and Hermosa Beach at 3:35 a.m., while a slightly weaker 1.8 temblor shook an area off Palos Verdes Point a few minutes later.

How do we know? We checked with the U.S. Geological Survey.

You can also find out more at this Caltech site, which includes links to statistics on recent earthquakes, maps, movies and community comments about ground shaking to which you, too, can contribute.

RELATED POSTS:
Scientists link laptops to detect earthquakes
Earthquake watch and tsunami warnings

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're not aware by now, Bike to Work Week is May 12 through May 16. If the two-wheeler has been sitting in the garage throughout this week, there's no excuse not to bring it out today: Bike to Work Day.

This morning is when bicyclists are feted for using human-powered propulsion and the most energy efficient mode of transportation on Earth. Of Two Minds blogger Charles Hugh Smith estimates that a bicyclist can get and MPG of 900 -- yes nine hundred.

Pit stops are set up this morning to give thanks and free swag to bicyclists. In the South Bay, pit stops will be at the Aviation and El Segundo/Nash Metro Green Line stations and at Torrance City Hall, at Torrance Boulevard and Madrona Avenue. All of Los Angeles County's pit stops are plotted out on a Google Map.

Another freebie bicyclists might consider: free transit rides. South Bay bus and rail carriers offering free rides today are Metro, Beach Cities Transit, Los Angeles Department of Transportation and Torrance Transit. Gardena Municipal Bus Lines is also offering free rides, but its buses cannot accommodate bicycles.

Posted by Daily Link at 4:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You honored mom with flowers and candy on Mother's Day in recognition of everything she does. Now, the folks who bring you the "Got Milk?" commercials want to salute one mom with some real coin -- $100,000 for her role as "chief health officer" for the family.

They've launched a nationwide search for moms who are keeping their families healthy and fit by serving lowfat or fat-free milk rather than sugary sodas or juice drinks. The contest runs through Sept. 30, when the winner will be announced.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

West Virginia sealed up its presidential choices last night as the nation -- at last -- nears the end of the primary season. We've been waiting all these months to find out who will lead each party to the final matchup in November, but while examining all those delegate maps, we've also gotten a geography lesson. So shouldn't everyone be able to ace this know-your-states test?

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Century (105) Freeway provides a speedy link through southern Los Angeles County. It runs between LAX and Norwalk, and connects three freeways.

It also spawned one of the first major freeway revolts and a complicated legal battle that forced Caltrans to implement unprecedented legal remedies to the mostly low-income communities through where the 105 was built.

Photographer Jeff Gates provides a history lesson.

He shares photographs and essays of the drawn-out process of building Los Angeles County's last major freeway opening on his site, In Our Path. He began photographing the construction of the freeway in 1982, and interviewed residents in the path of the freeway who were displaced by freeway construction.

The Century Freeway, which was originally set to be completed by 1980, opened in 1993 after the state battled cities and residents in the courts. The freeway was ultimately built, but the state agreed to enter a consent decree that required replacing homes taken for the freeway, giving preferential hiring to nearby residents for construction, and integrating mass transit into the highway's design. The Metro Green Line, running in the freeway's median, opened in 1995.

The litigation brought on by construction of the freeway factored in slowing down highway expansion throughout the county.

Gates, a Los Angeles native now living on the East Coast, supplies images and writing on the construction of the freeway and Southern California's transition from the suburban boom started by the Pacific Electric streetcars and completed with the highway grid that largely replaced the traction.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you've been caught up in the cliche handwringing about young people who don't care about politics, 18-year-old Torrance resident Jeff R. Samano should put your mind at ease.

The LB State communications major has been spending his free time doing some political homework in advance of the June 3 Torrance city council elections, in the hopes of engaging Torrance residents with his blog, Torrance Election 2008.

Jeff's posts include lengthy reviews of election forums and campaign funding records.

His first post explains his point of view and tells which candidates he was pulling for when he began the blog. Curiously, three of his four faves have answered Q&A's on his site. Coincidence?

Read on for a Q&A with Jeff to find out how he got interested in civics, what he thinks is the biggest issue facing Torrance now and what he thinks every South Bay resident should know.

Continue reading "Blogger looks for 'more than sound bites' on Torrance election" »

Posted by Daily Link at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are some links to help you do your homework for the upcoming June 3 election.

City of Torrance election page.

If you want to vote June 3 and you're not registered, you have until May 19 to make sure that you are.

LAVote.net has pollworker information.

Find your polling place.

Smartvoter.org has info on the council candidates and a list of the candidate forums (There's one tonight at 7 at the South High School Cafeteria, 4801 Pacific Coast Highway.)

You can also see footage of the first candidate forum every night until June 2 at 6:30 on TimeWarner Channel 28. Three-minute candidate statements air at 8:30 p.m.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Roosters, and their owners, can live in Los Angeles for another day without fear of being hassled by The Man.

Los Angeles councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents San Pedro and the Harbor areas, had planned on introducing a city ordinance to limit households to one rooster each. Real estate and land use blog Curbed LA wrote that Hahn had also wanted residents to embed their rooster with microchips. Warning: The Curbed items contain cheeky uses of the word "cock," but are otherwise safe for work.

The law was supposed to give homeowners recourse from incessant cock-a-doodle-dooing, prevented bird flu, and probably bust up any cockfighting rings within the city.

Rooster boosters can breathe a sigh of relief. The motion has been withdrawn, because the city's budget crunch doesn't allow animal control to effectively enforce the measure.

Homeowners seeking peace and quiet from the feathered fiends will once again feel Los Angeles has laid an egg, but urban bird owners have something to crow about.

Posted by Daily Link at 8:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May is Older Americans Month, sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration on Aging. When the celebration was established in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, only 17 million living Americans had reached their 65th birthdays. Beginning in 2011, the first of 78 million baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) will start transitioning into retirement, kicking off an expansion in the number of elderly people that will continue for decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one out of every nine baby boomers will live to be at least age 90.

This year's theme is "Working Together for Strong, Healthy, and Supportive Communities." Celebrate older Americans in your community on Saturday, as the city of Torrance holds its ninth annual Senior Faire and Arts and Crafts Festival. The free event will feature arts and crafts, health screenings, food booths and more. It will be held at the Ken Miller Recreation Center, 3341 Torrance Blvd., from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Call 310-320-5918 for more information.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Everybody is doing the locomotion. May 10 is National Train Day.

Southern Californians can partake in the festival for ferroequinology at Union Station, 800 N. Alameda St., in downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles boasts an entire day of history, music, speeches and merchandise about trains. May 10 is a better day than any to celebrate trains, as it was on this day in 1869 when the last spike was wedged into the ground in Promontory, Utah, symbolizing the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

South Bay residents cannot take a train directly to Union Station, but it is a straight shot up the Harbor (110) Freeway with a short drive on the 101 freeway in downtown Los Angeles. Most of Metro's buses using the Harbor Transitway (PDF) also serve Union Station, as does Torrance Transit Line 2 (PDF).

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Internet Archive, a digital library that makes it possible to find Web sites that may no longer be normally available, fended off a bid by FBI to get information about one of its patrons. If you want to see what the library offers go to the Internet Archive and try out the Wayback Machine.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some people play sports. Some cook eight-course meals. And some make wickedly complicated charts about words. Have you ever wondered how many different ways people on the Internet spell "hmm"? Programmer and language geek Oliver Steele answers all your hmm-related questions with "The Hmm Page", a graphical representation of spellings ranging from HMM to HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. There's even an interactive feature that allows you to click on a spelling to Google its appearances.

Steele has other language toys on his blog, including an animated ambigram, a word that looks the same when viewed from different angles.

Does this post make you go "Aargh"? Don't worry — there's a page for that too.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, it is.

Photography social networking site Flickr has the LA South Bay group. More than 200 amateur and professional photographers share the people and places they captured in Torrance, the Beach Cities and the Peninsula.

Anyone can join this group and share their own photos. The photos can even be "geotagged" by placing their location on an interactive map. The group also maintains a discussion board.

A free basic membership allows uploads of up to 100 megabytes. A paid pro account allows for unlimited uploads.

There are more than 4,000 photos in the group. A few hundred or thousand more wouldn't hurt.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We gave you a primer on using public transportation in the South Bay on Tuesday. We introduced you to the services provided by Metro, Torrance and Gardena. These are the three services with the largest buses and the routes on the most important streets.

Meet the South Bay's other, smaller bus services. These systems use smaller buses or only offer service for rush-hour commuters.

First is Beach Cities Transit, the South Bay's youngest bus system. The fixed-route system emerged from a dial-a-ride service provided to the beach cities. The most fun is Route 109, which parallels the coast between El Segundo and Redondo Beach. Route 102 connects the Green Line with the South Bay Galleria and the Redondo Beach Pier. Route 104 connects Riviera Village with the Del Amo Fashion Center.

The Lawndale Beat is a two-route bus system connecting Lawndale with the Green Line and the South Bay Galleria. The residential route runs along Firmona, Osage and Prairie avenues. The express route runs along Hawthorne Boulevard.

Even the cities on The Hill have a bus service: the Palos