While the science of decomposition can be quite complex, starting your own compost pile is relatively easy. The NYC Compost Project has put together practical information on all aspects of composting in New York City, including basic guides for people who are just getting started.

• Read the full quick-start composting guide here.

Procedural, a graphics modelling software company, released a rendered movie of a hypothetical New York City skyline in the year 2259. It was influenced by the New York scenes in The Fifth Element.

The New York April Fools’ Day Parade was created in 1986 to remedy a glaring omission in the long list of New York’s annual ethnic and holiday parades. These events fail to recognize the importance of April 1st, the day designated to commemorate the perennial folly of mankind. In an attempt to bridge this gap and bring people back in touch with their inherent foolishness, the parade annually crowns a King of Fools from parading look-alikes.

The public is encouraged to participate, in or out of costume, with or without floats, and may join the procession at any point along the parade route. Floats can be no wider than 10 feet and no longer than 25 feet. They can be self-propelled, towed, pushed or pulled. Customized bicycles, tricycles, baby carriages and aerial balloons are welcome. All participants are costumed look-alikes, and the Parade Committee assumes no liability for damages caused by satire. Parade floats and marchers must be at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue no later than 11:30 a.m.

• from theApril Fool’s Parade site.

On Tuesday, March 31^st the Girls in Tech tribe is hosting its (re)launch party. Back in September 2008 I attended the first Girls in Tech party that occured as part of Web 2.0 Expo here in NYC. Zahra made fast friends with the crew, and I enjoyed my relatively priviledged status as one of the three or four male supporters in the room.

The 2009 launch party (which is open to men as well as women, by the way) features Juliette Powell, a media entrepreneur, a community catalyst and author — as guest speaker. She will also be signing copies of her latest book. The event will also feature swag bags, raffle prizes (the girls are raffling a KaraB laptop bag and a $100 driving credit from Mint), drink specials, and complementary hors d’oeuvres.

The relaunched New York chapter’s program of events will focus on network mixers, weekend workshops; a summer dinner cruise; a money-smarts seminar for freelancers and small business owners; and participation in Girls in Tech University.

• Event: Girls in Tech NYC – Relaunch Launch PartyDate: Tuesday, March 31, 2009Time: 6:30pm – 9:30pm

  Location: M1-5 Lounge

  Street: 52 Walker Street (Between Church & Broadway)

  City/Town: New York, NY

  Cost: $10 advance sale, $15 at the door

• RSVP for the event here.
• Post-event writeup can be found here.

The Lost Tribes of New York City from Carolyn London who animated inanimate objects from the streets of New York using the voices of interviews with New Yorkers.

Since 2006  I Heart Brooklyn Girls has created pinup calendars of, as you might have guessed, girlies. What’s interesting is that everyone involved (correct me if I’m wrong) is lesbian and living in Brooklyn. The pinup girls are the queer femmes you see around Park Slope and not improbable models. The idea is to recreate the traditional sexy calendar into something that women, especially lesbian women, will find toothsome.

The 2009 calendar’s theme is Women at Work. It pays homage to classic pinup women made popular by artists Elvgren and Vargas, while still poking fun at traditional gender roles. The calendar showcases a dozen campy career girls in authentic vintage garments, lingerie and swimwear. Here is the lineup of professional eye candy:

• Baking Beauty
• Sultry Scout
• Fix-it Fox
• Head of the Class
• Stitching Sweetie
• Bruiser Babe
• Dog-gone Doll
• Chemist Queenie (pictured on right)
• Enchanting Chanteuse
• Literary Lady
• Gone Fishing Gal
• Painting Dame

Purchase the Calendar online.

If you live in NYC you should visit one of the stores that sells the calendar; these days they need the retail love. Heres the short list:

Bluestockings
172 Allen St.
L.E.S., Manhattan

Red Lipstick
560 Vanderbilt Ave.
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn

St. Mark’s Bookshop
31 Third Ave.
East Village, Manhattan

Scaredy Kat Cards & Gifts
229 5th Ave.
Park Slope, Brooklyn

Spoonbill & Sugartown
218 Bedford Ave.
Williamsburg, Brooklyn

I imagine that Jason Kottke was having a frustrating morning commute when he penned his 9 Rules for the NYC Subway.

1. Get the hell out of my way, I’m coming through.

I sometimes feel great pity for elderly citizens who for reasons economic or psychological, have not managed to escape New York City before growing frail and feeble. They move so slowly through the streets and stairwells and platforms. The negative vibes and glares of unmitigated hatred that they get from the crowd that swirls around them must have a detrimental effect on their psyche.

I sometimes wish I could buy them a house in the country.

2. Do not stop at the top of the stairs to put your MetroCard back into your purse/wallet. You are between me and my train.

3. Act more like a particle and less like a wave. When you’re weaving all over the platform like a drunken sinusoidal, energetic particles like myself — who, in keeping with Newton’s first law of motion, like to remain in a uniform state of motion until acted upon by an outside force — cannot easily get past you.

I disagree with this one. If you are lithe and quick, dodging-n-weaving is superior to marching in a pack. If you are doing it right, no one will be able to move faster, and thus will have no need of passing you.

4. Slower traffic keep to the right.

Or in the middle of the platform, whichever makes more sense.

5. Yield to persons crossing the platform from the express train to the local train (or vice versa). They need the right-of-way more than you do for that 15 seconds of your existence on this earth.

Don’t complain if someone hurls you out of their way between trains, either. Its compounding ignorance with selfishness.

6. Have your MetroCard out of its holster before you get to the turnstile. Before.

7. If you are waiting for your train, suppress the urge to wander the crowded platform aimlessly. Pick a spot and stay exactly there. If you need to move, do so with purpose and well-defined direction.

This is more a function of crowd density. When people are spread sparsely across the platform it is permissible to take ownership of a section (say, between two pillars) by pacing to-and-fro. If you’ve been walking fast on the streets above, its a good way to keep the energy up until you’re off the train and walking again.

8. I’m embarrassed that I even need to mention this one because it’s so bloody obvious, but get out of the way and let everyone off the train before you attempt to board.

My one overtly aggressive act in life so far was trouncing a fat, nasty shrew of an office-worker who pushed her way into a crowded Queens-bound E train during the evening rush hour without letting anyone (me) off first. Her smug remark was cut off in a squawk when I body-checked her into the Plexiglas advertisement partition. A murmur of pleasure rippled through the frustrated crowd around me; women gazed at me in admiration as I marched off on my way. “That’s why you get the fuck out of the way of the doors,” as an observer commented to a friend with a righteous nod.

9. Get the hell out of my way, I’m coming through.

If you are on crutches, please take a cab. For your own physical and psychic safety, I implore you: do not ride the subway when temporarily crippled. Your inexperience may bring you further harm.