Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto is a real estate developer in Hawaii. He has a history of renting homes below market value to low-income Hawaiians, but now he’s selecting native Hawaiians to rent luxury homes for only $150 a month. Four of eight families have been selected from 3,000 applicants. He said he is renting the homes "because the affluent people can help the least fortunate people." http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/03/20/billionaire.charity.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Richard Klavans and Kevin Boyack mapped different scientific disciplines to show their relationships with each other, and where the research is being done. You can find what disciplines are studied by geographical location, industries, institutions, or topics. They analyzed 1.6 million scientific articles to contruct the maps! For example: the map on the left represents all the disciplines; the map on the right shows that in Boston, research is primarily concentrated in the medical field (red). Link. More information here. -via Metafilter

Shorpy calls itself “the 100-year-old photo blog.” Not all the pictures are that old, but they are pretty old. And fascinating. This picture is the corner of 34th and Broadway in New York in 1914. Link -via Metafilter

Xavier, a ten-month old kitten in Rhode Island, is disabled and cannot walk or support his own weight. He is under the care of an educator from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. A fourth grade class in Oklahoma heard of Xavier’s plight and raised $500 to buy a custom kitty wheelchair. Now he can get around! Link (with video) -via Arbroath

Don't get too impressed. This was originally supposed to be the "Animated Gears of War Shirt" but by the time we strapped a 360 to the back of the shirt and added a flatscreen to the front it just wasn't feasible. The test subjects kept falling over, no one liked the car battery power supply duct taped to their leg and don't even get us started on the price.

This animated t-shirt from Think Geek runs on two AAA batteries, conceled in an inside pocket. The image screen is removable for laundry time. A video of the shirt in action is also available. Link -via Grow-A-Brain

Rotate is a game that uses Flickr photos as puzzles. You have to click on the parts to rotate them until they make sense. You are timed. Link -via B3ta

When an underground seam of coal catches fire, the effects can be felt for decades. In Centralia, Pennsylvania, the fire started in 1962 and is still burning! The town was completely evacuated in 1984. See lots of pictures, video, and more information at Fogonazos. Link

Nouvelle Star is a French talent show along the lines of American Idol. Joseph amazed them with his beatbox abilities. How can someone do so many things with his mouth at once? Push play or go to YouTube. -via b3ta

Aleksey Igudesman and Richard Hyung-ki Joo met as 12-year-old students at the Yehudi Menuhin School of Music. Their music/comedy show, A Little Nighmare Music has played all over Europe, but they have never performed in the United States. Push play or go to YouTube. More videos are available at their site. http://www.igudesmanandjoo.com/igujoo.htm -via Videosift

The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has posted a life size picture of a Blue Whale! Its so big that a map of the photograph is included to make it easier for you to know what you are seeing. Link -via Dump Trumpet

Today is Pi Day! Why? Because the date on the calendar is 3/14. Make mine blackberry! Metafilter has lots of ways to celebrate Pi Day. Link

The Evil Mad Scientist laboratories made pretzels in all kinds of geeky shapes. Pictured are the symbols for infinity, paragraph (pilcrow), and the Mac command key. Link

Cassidy Lynn is a second-grader who is trying to buy goats for families in Sudan. She designs and makes cat toys called Playful Pancakes, which you can buy through Soft Star Shoes. Each toy is handmade by Cassidy or one of the other kids who have gotten involved, and each is individually named. The money she makes goes to Kids for Kids, which provides goats and other aid to Darfur. Link -via Connor’s Blog

Jyrki Kasvi is a Finnish Parliament member, representing the Green League party. His website is available in several languages, including Klingon.

"Some have thought it is blasphemy to mix politics and Klingon," said Jyrki Kasvi, an ardent Trekkie. "Others say it is good if politicians can laugh at themselves."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/09/finland.klingon.reut/index.html to news story. Links to Kasvi’s website in Finnish, English, Swedish, and the Klingon version.

I just found The Life of Riley, a fairly new blog written by Olive Riley and Mike Rubbo. Olive is 107 years old, which may make her the oldest blogger ever. The stories from her life are fascinating. From her first post:

Good Morning everyone. My name is Olive Riley. I live in Australia near Sydney. I was born in Broken Hill on Oct. 20th 1899.Broken Hill is a mining town, far away in the centre of Australia. My Friend, Mike, has arranged this blog for me. He is doing the typing and I am telling the stories. He thinks it’s a good idea to tell what’s going on. He already made a film about me a few years back and people liked that, so they might like this blog too, he says. We’ll see.

Link