March 31, 2006
March 27, 2006
March 26, 2006
Signs, Signs...
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Another set of signs have gone up on my street.
Digital Bridges - scans from historical bridges of the 19th Century
Great Writing - Idle Words
Perito Moreno Iceberg 5, originally uploaded by noaharamati
A sign of good writing (and writer) is the ability to take mundane or uninteresting topics and make them facinating. Maciej Ceglowski of Idle Words accomplishes this. Just read his latest entry, The Collapse of the Perito Moreno, and see what I mean:
It was pandemonium this month at the Perito Moreno glacier. The Perito Moreno is a giant mess of ice that flows out of the mountains in the southern Argentine province of Santa Cruz, near El Calafate, looking for trouble. In a world of sissy nature that requires protection, handholding, wilderness reserves, careful study and constant medical attention, the Perito Moreno glacier is a refreshing throwback. This glacier wants you dead. It wants to come out and crush you under billions of tons of ice, carve its name into your face, and maraud out into the plains of Patagonia until it reaches the sea. You don't have to go into the mountains looking for the Perito Moreno - it's coming out of the mountains to look for you. It wants to come over there and mess you up good.
And that's just the beginning. Go and read the whole article.
March 25, 2006
If you have 30 minutes, check out Will Wright's Spore Gameplay Video
daddy like
What would NYC look like if the oceans rose 7m? much like this (via)
March 24, 2006
Cool Map of the Day: New Internet Backbone map for North America (pdf) via bOINGbOING
Fire Patrol, No More?
fire patrol, originally uploaded by niznoz
As reported by the NY Times (and linked by Gothamist), the New York Fire Patrol - which I previously wrote about might be no more:
While the Fire Department puts out fires, the patrol works in its wake, salvaging property and limiting the damage at commercial blazes. The patrolmen — no women are now on the force — do not bring hoses. They bring pumps for getting rid of the water. They do not break windows to vent heat. They bring protective canvas tarps to throw atop computers or retail goods.
However, this may be the last year that the "Patrolios," as the units refer to themselves, roam the streets of New York in their distinctive red helmets.
The insurance industry has decided that the old way of doing things may not be the best way, that the property salvaged by the 98-member force is not worth its $8.5 million budget, which is financed by an annual assessment on fire insurers.
It would be a shame if this quirky New York institution would slip away into history - like so much of New York City.
Ansel Adams' Lost Los Angeles Photos
Palm Lined Boulevard, originally uploaded by Gerard Van der Leun
Check out a Flickr Set of Ansel Adams' Lost Los Angeles Photos (also at the LA Public Library) shot for either Forbes or Fortune in 1940. While these photos are undoubtedly "outtakes," in my opinion, it is good that Mr. Adams stuck to landscape photography.
(via)
March 23, 2006
Vidiot takes on The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and its' evolution
hear snippets of the different versions via the NY Times
Fan Frenzy for Snakes on a Plane has caused the filmmakers to reshoot scenes with more snakes and for Samuel L. Jackson to say snakes on a motherfucking plane!
Best. Movie. EVAR!
Vice President Cheney's Suite Demands
FOX News... check, 68 degrees in room... check; I would like to think that the gifts mentioned relate to the Secret Service having to inspect things prior to the VPOTUS arriving...
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I don't get what the big deal is to waking up early - I get exactly the same amount done over night, then waking up in the morning (via)
Bush’s IRS Wants to Make Your Tax Returns Public
so wrong, on so many levels - why is our privacy available to the highest bidder?
March 22, 2006
March 21, 2006
Interesting WikiPedia article about Anarchism
I wonder what the group size mean limit Anarchism can support - it has to have a limit of around 100; anything more just descends into chaos
Favorite un-PC blog of the moment: the ijc
check out what it is all about
South Park - Scientology Episode is available on YourTube
notice that everyone in the credits is named John or Jane Smith - Scientology, what a cult (and tax shelter)
March 20, 2006
March 17, 2006
Gigantic Lego Aircraft Carrier
I salute you, sir
March 16, 2006
On Escalation: Herman Kahn's Escalation Ladder
Are you ever interested on taxonomies? How about conflict taxonomies? Me too! One place to look is Herman Kahn's work:
Kahn's major contributions were the several strategies he developed during the Cold War to contemplate "the unthinkable," namely, nuclear warfare, by using applications of game theory.
In the 1960's, Kahn released two seminal works, On Thermonuclear War and On Escalation, which outlines Kahn's Escalation Ladder - 44 steps of escalating conflict up to total war.
Very interesting ideas - try to match up history and events using Kahn's taxonomy, and it is frightening how far up the ladder we go.
| Civilian Control Wars | 44. | Spasm or Insensate War |
| 43. | Some Other Kinds of Controlled General War | |
| 42. | Civilian Devestation Attack | |
| 41. | Augmented Disarming Attack | |
| 40. | Countervalue Salvo | |
| 39. | Slow Motion Counter City War | |
| (City Targeting Threashold) | ||
| Military Control Wars | 38. | Unmodified Counterforce Attack |
| 37. | Counterforce-with-Avoidance Attack | |
| 36. | Constrained Disarming Attack | |
| 35. | Constrained Force-Reduction Salvo | |
| 34. | Slow-Motion Counterforce War | |
| 33. | Slow-Motion Counter-"Property" War | |
| 32. | Formal Declaration of "General" War | |
| (Central War Threashold) | ||
| Exemplary Central Attacks | 31. | Reciprical Reprisals |
| 30. | Complete Evacuation (Approximately 95%) | |
| 29. | Exemplary Attacks on Population | |
| 28. | Exemplary Attacks against Property | |
| 27. | Exemplary Attack on Military | |
| 26. | Demonstration Attack on Zone of Interior | |
| (Central Sanctuary Threshold) | ||
| Bizarre Crises | 25. | Evacuation (Approximately 70%) |
| 24. | Unusual, Evocative, and Significant Countermeasures | |
| 23. | Local Nuclear War - Military | |
| 22. | Declaration of Limited Nuclear War | |
| Intense Crises | 21. | Local Nuclear War - Exemplary |
| (No Nuclear Use Threashold) | ||
| 20. | "Peaceful" World-Wide Embargo or Blockade | |
| 19. | "Justifiable" Counterforce Attack | |
| 18. | Spectacular Show or Demonstration of Force | |
| 17. | Limited Evacuation (Approximately 20%) | |
| 16. | Nuclear "Ultimatums" | |
| 15. | Barely Nuclear War | |
| 14. | Declatation of Limited Conventional War | |
| 13. | Large Compound Escalation | |
| 12. | Large Conventional War (or Actions) | |
| 11. | Super-Ready Status | |
| 10. | Provacative Breaking Off of Diplomatic Relations | |
| (Nuclear War is Unthinkable Threshold) | ||
| 9. | Dramatic Military Confrontations | |
| 8. | Harassing Acts of Violence | |
| Traditional Crises | 7. | "Legal" Harassment - Retorations |
| 6. | Signifigant Mobilization | |
| 5. | Show of Force | |
| 4. | Hardening of Positions - Confrontation of Wills | |
| (Don't Rock the Boat Threshold) | ||
| Subcrisi Maneuvering | 3. | Solemn and Formal Declarations |
| 2. | Political, Economic, and Diplomatic Gestures | |
| 1. | Ostensible Crisis |
March 15, 2006
Visit the city of New Ephemera, in your dreams
A tour of mOrphosis' new UC recreation center
March 14, 2006
MUNI's A Vision for Rapid Transit in San Francisco which I just talked about
Bus Stopped: How an attempt to make the 38 Geary bus work became another senseless San Francisco social cause
another reason SF is so weird & indescribable to people who haven't lived there
AskMe Circles
AskMe Circles, originally uploaded by plemeljr
Awesome landforms brought to you via this AskMe thread. The round dots are examples of center pivot irrigation in the MidEast. More cool photos from the thread are available from the Great Manmade River, here, and here.
Check out other cool Google Maps I've collected.
March 13, 2006
New to Google Maps: Google Mars Maps
freaking cool!
March 12, 2006
March 11, 2006
Hoboken
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The capitols at the Hoboken PATH station are quite beautiful.
March 10, 2006
Two commerce/retail articles for you: The Shrinking Gap & Never Mind the Gap (via)
I admit to be buying less and less from the Gap recently
March 9, 2006
March 8, 2006
Judge quotes Adam Sandler movie in decision blasting defendant
hockey rink to basketball court time-lapse
amazing (via)
March 7, 2006
Candy
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Yup... that's from Dylan's Candy Bar - we were there and a party of tiny girls just finished up with much sugar-infused running and screaming abounding.
A magical place
Photos: Revealing Chicago
WTC 7
As pointed out on Curbed, I took a trip around World Trade Center Building 7 on afternoon on the way back to the office. It is quite an impressive building - the curtain wall is marvelous. Even the bunker-like base is quite nice. I have to hand it to SOM on this one - the building shines.
Now the only question is, who will rent space in a building next to a giant hole? At night there are many floors with the tell-tale construction lights shine proudly. Hopefully the building will find tenant, if only to bring more life to Downtown.
March 6, 2006
March 5, 2006
Top of the Rock
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Yesterday, we went to the Rockefeller Center observation deck. It was very empty, because it was a bit cold out, but the sky was so clear you could see up the Hudson River Valley, all the way out to the Rockaways and to Sandy Hook in New Jersey.
See all of my photos from the trip.
March 4, 2006
Woolworth
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The Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan; once the tallest building in the World, now the tallest building in Lower Manhattan.
March 3, 2006
WTC 7
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The new World Trade Center by SOM. See more photos on flickr.
March 2, 2006
March 1, 2006
Exactly what you think it is: Lazy Muncie
Only the Jim Davis appearance makes this worthwhile