Feeling bored by the Internet? Want to see something fun & useful that will truly rock your socks off and might just make your day?

Let us begin.

Sustainable Energy – Without The Hot Air – David JC MacKay

Described by Boing Boing editor Cory Doctorow as “the Freakonomics of conservation, climate and energy”, this is a book you shouldn’t miss, not least because it’s available entirely for free. You can buy the book on Amazon (note the thirty-nine 5-star reviews) – but you can also read the entire contents online or download them in PDF form, free of charge.

Author MacKay is an English Physics professor, so he really knows his stuff. What is remarkable is how elegantly and breezily he conveys it. (This is no ponderous high school textbook). Want to know what it would really take to balance the energy budget? Want to know the real numbers behind renewable energy? This is the book for you.

The Brain Pickings of Maria Popova

Since 2005, Wired and The Atlantic writer Maria Popova has been reading more books than most people get through in a lifetime. If that wasn’t enough, she only reads good books – the most fascinating, quirky, inspiring and thought-filled reading material lining our shelves today. And if that wasn’t enough, she blogs about them too. Her website, Brain Pickings, now gets more traffic than the New York Review of Books, and no wonder – it’s a treasure-trove of suggested reads that may very well make you a better human being.

(Check out an interview with Maria here).

Read The Best Journalism On The Internet

Love good writing? Love reading? Love knowing what’s really going on in the world? Check out our reading list or our recent post on 10 sources of quality journalism – but if you don’t want to have to trawl for the good stuff yourself, there are websites that curate and archive the most fearless, insightful and beautifully-written journalism out there.

Try Longform (above)…

…and Longreads, and Byliner.

For a one-stop bookmarking of the good stuff, check out Conor Friedersdorf’s list of nearly 100 pieces of superb journalism. And if you have a Kindle – why not use Klip.me to send these articles to it, and do your reading offline?

Browse the Open Culture Language List

Being bilingual gives your brain a good workout – we all know this, but there’s increasing amounts of scientific evidence to back it up. So why not take 10 minutes out of your day and start a new language? Problem: those courses can be pricey. Solution: this colossal archive of  free resources (ebooks, audio, video) for learning 40 languages from Arabic to Yiddish. (Thank you kindly, Open Culture).

Sloth Yourself Silly 

To keep your smile topped up, watch this trailer for Animal Planet’s Meet The Sloths every day. And if that doesn’t work, scroll through these 111 adorable pictures of them at Buzzfeed. Sloths – they bring the happy. (More cuteness at Slothville).

See The World Up Close

Earlier this year the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite orbited our planet six times and took a series of staggeringly detailed images that NASA stitched together and released on Flickr. The above image is one; this is the other. Incredibly beautiful, yes – but we’re not done yet. Under the “View All Sizes” buttons on each page you’ll find the original high-resolution image…and they will blow your mind: (Hi-Res Image 1)  (Hi-Res Image 2)

Know At A Glance When Your Edible Garden Is In Season

As you may have guessed by now, we love infographics – but we were particularly taken with this set from the good folk at Chasing Delicious. Work out when your fruit, vegetables and herbs are in season, and plan your meals accordingly.

Listen To Neil Gaiman Talk About Doing What You Love

A few months ago author Neil Gaiman was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and was asked to give the Keynote Address to the 2012 graduating class. The speech he gave has become an internet phenomenon, and is a must-watch for anyone doing anything creative (read: everyone).

For those on a tight schedule, the transcript is here.

Explore An Idea a Day With The Change This Manifestos

Running since 2004 and born of an idea by Seth Godin, the Change This manifestos are short, succinct and above all fun downloadable books built around ideas. Their authors are some of the internet’s smartest people (the aformentioned Seth Godin is a contributor). There are hundreds of titles to choose from, they’re all easy on the eyes and stretchy on the brain – and they’re all completely free. Get started here.

Let Jodi Ettenberg, Legal Nomad, Show You A World Of Food

Jodi Ettenberg is a globe-trotting food nut with a thing for spices and gluten-free cooking. An ex-lawyer, she’s been traveling the world since 2008 and garnering mentions in the New York Times and on Jason Kottke’s super-popular blog. Her site is a wealth of tips on traveling the world, but for sheer eye-candy you’d be wise to go to her food page and start clicking for some really incredible nom-shots.

Images: MSVG, orangeacid, NASA Goddard Photo & Video and David JC MacKay.

The post Bored? Here Are 10 Awesome Free Things On The Internet appeared first on EcoSalon.

20 ways to meet new people around the world, with links to pronunciation.

Wat is jou naam? – Afrikaans

Як вас завуць? (Jak vas zavuts’?) – Belarusian

Håyi nå’ån-mu? (Hah-jee na-an moo?) – Chamorro

您貴姓大名？ (Nín guìxìng dàmíng?) – Chinese (Mandarin)

Jak se jmenujete? – Czech

Mikä teidän nimenne on? – Finnish

Wie heißen sie? – German

आप का नाम क्या है (āp kā nām kyā hai?) – Hindi

성함이 어떻게 되십니까? (sungham ee uttoke daesipnika?) – Korean

Wéi heeschs du? – Luxembourgish

Siapa nama anda? – Malay

Como se chama? – Portuguese

Как вас зовут? (Kak vas zovut?) – Russian

Како се зовете? (Kako se zovete?) – Serbian

Kako vam je ime? – Slovenian

¿Cómo se llama Usted? – Spanish

คุณชีออะไร? (kun chêu a-rai?) – Thai

İsminiz nedir? – Turkish

Sizning ismingiz nima? – Uzbek

Bạn tên gì? – Vietnamese

ALSO CHECK OUT:

How to Say ‘I Love You’ in 30 Different Languages

How to Say ‘I’m Vegetarian’ in 10 Different Languages

How to Say ‘Not All Who Wander Are Lost’ in 10 Different Languages

How to Say ‘How Much Does It Cost?’ in 10 Different Languages

How to Say ‘Is It Organic?’ in 10 Different Languages

The post How to Say ‘What Is Your Name?’ in 20 Different Languages appeared first on EcoSalon.

10 ways to eat better and healthier around the globe, with links to proper pronunciation.

Je to organski? – Croatian

Is het biologisch? – Dutch

Est-il bio? – French

Ist es bio? – German

Itu organik? – Indonesian

E organico? – Italian

E orgânico? – Portuguese

Es orgánica? – Spanish

A yw’n organig? – Welsh

* Note that in many countries, the term “bio” indicates many of the same production values as “organic.”

ALSO CHECK OUT:

How to Say I Love You in 30 Different Languages

How to Say ‘I’m Vegetarian’ in 10 Different Languages

How to Say ‘Not All Who Wander Are Lost’ in 10 Different Languages

How to Say ‘How Much Does It Cost?’ in 10 Different Languages

Image: thebittenword.com

The post How to Say ‘Is It Organic?’ in 10 Different Languages appeared first on EcoSalon.

10 ways to spend it around the world, with links to proper pronunciation.

Hoeveel kos dit? – Afrikaans

這個多少錢? (zhège duōshǎo qián?) – Chinese (Mandarin)

Kolik to stojí? – Czech

Ça coûte combien? – French

Konbyen? – Haitian Creole

Quanto costa? – Italian

이게 얼마예요? (ige eolmayeyo?) – Korean

Ile to kosztuje? – Polish

¿Cuánto cuesta? – Spanish

Kubiza malini? – Zulu

ALSO CHECK OUT:

How to Say I Love You in 30 Different Languages

How to Say ‘I’m Vegetarian’ in 10 Different Languages

How to Say ‘Not All Who Wander Are Lost’ in 10 Different Languages

Image: Philip Brewer

The post How to Say ‘How Much Does It Cost?’ in 10 Different Languages appeared first on EcoSalon.

10 ways to say the famous J.R.R. Tolkien quote.

Pas tous ceux qui errent sont perdus. – French

Nicht alle, die wandern, gehen verloren. – German

भटकने वाले सभì (bhataknay waley sabhi log gum nahi(n) hotey). – Hindi

Non tutti quelli che vagano si perdono. – Italian

Non totus quisnam flos es lost. – Latin

Law pain i reviar mistar aen. – Sindarin (a fictional Elvish language)

Nu toti cei care hoinaresc sunt rataciti. – Romanian

Níl gach uile fhánaí caillte. – Scottish Gaelic

No todos los que vagan andan perdidos. – Spanish

Inte alla som vandrar går vilse. – Swedish

ALSO CHECK OUT:

How to Say I Love You in 30 Different Languages

How to Say ‘I’m Vegetarian’ in 10 Different Languages

Image: Mizrak

The post How To Say ‘Not All Who Wander Are Lost’ in 10 Different Languages appeared first on EcoSalon.

10 ways to express your eating preferences around the world.

我食齋 (ngóh sihk jāai) – Cantonese

Je suis végétarien (male) (zhuh swee vay-zhay-tah-ree-a) / végétarienne (female) (zhuh swee vay-zhay-tah-ree-ehn) – French

Ich bin Vegetarier (ikh bin vay-gay-TAH-ree-er) –German

Eimai hortofagos (EE-may hor-to-FAH-gos) –Greek

Vegetarianus vagyok (veghetarianush vadiok) –Hungarian

Sono vegetariano (male) (SOH-noh veh-jeh-tah-RYAH-noh) / vegetariana (female) (SOH-noh veh-jeh-tah-RYAH-nah) –Italian

ベジタリアンです(Bejitarian desu) –Japanese

Я вегетарианец (male) (yah vee-gee-tuh-ree-YAHN-eets) / Я вегетарианка (female) (yah vee-gee-tuh-ree-YAHN-kah) – Russian

Yo soy vegetariano (male) (yo soy ve-heh-TAHR-eee-ahno) / vegetariana (yo soy ve-heh-TAHR-eee-ahna) (female) – Spanish

Toi an chay (toy ahn jay) – Vietnamese

ALSO CHECK OUT:

How to Say I Love You in 30 Different Languages

Image: Elmastudio

The post How To Say ‘I’m Vegetarian’ in 10 Different Languages appeared first on EcoSalon.