locus communis

wildfire season in colorado. black forest fire near colorado...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:16:50 -0600

wildfire season in colorado. black forest fire near colorado springs.

slavin: “Network providers striving for superfast trading...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:21:38 -0600

“Network providers striving for superfast trading speeds have drilled through the Appalachian Mountains and laid fiber optic cables beneath the Arctic ice. But now they are exploring using a new technique in the pursuit of high-speed trading: the humble balloon.”

(via Enduring Quest for Superfast Trading Takes to the Air - MoneyBeat - WSJ)

Fuck: I said they were gonna build bubbles in the ocean. Why didn’t I think up military balloons, holding microwave relays suspended over the Atlantic ocean? #failuresofimagination

"The way things are supposed to work is that we’re supposed to know virtually everything about what..."

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 17:45:03 -0600

“The way things are supposed to work is that we’re supposed to know virtually everything about what they do: that’s why they’re called public servants. They’re supposed to know virtually nothing about what we do: that’s why we’re called private individuals. This dynamic - the hallmark of a healthy and free society - has been radically reversed. Now, they know everything about what we do, and are constantly building systems to know more. Meanwhile, we know less and less about what they do, as they build walls of secrecy behind which they function. That’s the imbalance that needs to come to an end. No democracy can be healthy and functional if the most consequential acts of those who wield political power are completely unknown to those to whom they are supposed to be accountable.”

- Glenn Greenwald (via azspot)

Maroon Bells

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 17:41:57 -0600

Maroon Bells

David Burney: There’s a growing consensus that this is one of the most dysfunctional eras ever in...

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 07:12:22 -0600

David Burney: There’s a growing consensus that this is one of the most dysfunctional eras ever in American politics, and I’d have to agree. The federal government seems paralyzed not only by the impasse between Democrats and Republicans but still more by the internal politics of the GOP. The anti-government ideologues have hijacked the legislative process to the point where it’s hard to expect leadership from Washington — and certainly not on much-needed investment in the country’s declining infrastructure. At the state level it doesn’t seem much better. So increasingly it’s been our cities that have taken the lead on critical issues, from gun control to immigration reform to economic stimulus to climate change. Given the migration of people into cities worldwide, this trend is sure to continue. We might even be in a de facto transition to a society dominated by economically and politically powerful cities — a contemporary version of the great city-states that arose in the 13th century and ruled Europe until the consolidation of modern nation-states a few centuries later.

http://m.designobserver.com/places/feature/0/37879/

Photo

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:53:58 -0600

humanscalecities: A Streetcorner Serenade for the Public...

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 16:14:37 -0600

humanscalecities:

A Streetcorner Serenade for the Public Plaza

Great photo of how small changes of adaptive reuse can make a difference, light and quick.

Photo

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 14:26:18 -0600

Reihan Salam on Urban and Suburban Poverty …the fact that a fifth of New York city’s population...

Tue, 28 May 2013 22:57:49 -0600

Reihan Salam on Urban and Suburban Poverty

…the fact that a fifth of New York city’s population lives in poverty while the same is true of only 9 percent of the population in its suburbs doesn’t represent a failing — rather, it reflects the fact that density and the widespread availability of mass transit are particularly valuable to the poor, who find it more difficult to purchase and maintain automobiles and for whom density facilitates greater access to service jobs. Commuting from Hempstead, a Long Island community with relatively high poverty levels, to a service job in New York city’s urban core is more time-consuming and expensive than commuting from Brooklyn or Queens. Commuting from Hempstead to one of Long Island’s affluent suburban neighboods can also be time-consuming and expensive, particularly when there are no direct transit links, as is often the case. So suburban poverty poses problems that poverty in dense cities well-served by transit does not. The problem we face is that the U.S. has relatively few dense cities that are well-served by transit, as such cities can greatly facilitate upward mobility for the very poor.

neil-gaiman: London in 1927. Early colour film, and I watch...

Sun, 26 May 2013 15:38:39 -0600

neil-gaiman:

London in 1927.

Early colour film, and I watch this as if I’ve been given a window back into time. The women wear hats. Everyone wears hats. The police. The buses. The skyline…

Jerry’s Map - a lifelong process

Sun, 26 May 2013 14:54:20 -0600

Jerry’s Map - a lifelong process

azspot: Heavy Weather, Megacities… A Failed Future. Opt Out.

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:05:21 -0600

azspot:

Heavy Weather, Megacities… A Failed Future. Opt Out.

"One of the greatest threats we face is, simply put, bullshit. We are drowning it. We are drowning in..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 23:21:27 -0600

“One of the greatest threats we face is, simply put, bullshit. We are drowning it. We are drowning in partisan rhetoric that is just true enough not to be a lie; in industry-sponsored research; in social media’s imitation of human connection; in legalese and corporate double-speak. It infects every facet of public life, corrupting our discourse, wrecking our trust in major institutions, lowering our standards for the truth, making it harder to achieve anything.”

- Jon Lovett’s commencement address to Pitzer College. (via theatlantic)

Michael Wines, An Underground Pool Drying Up Portions of the...

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:47:11 -0600

Michael Wines, An Underground Pool Drying Up

Portions of the High Plains Aquifer are rapidly being depleted by farmers who are pumping too much water to irrigate their crops, particularly in the southern half in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Levels have declined up to 242 feet in some areas, from predevelopment — before substantial groundwater irrigation began — to 2011. (via An Underground Pool Drying Up - Graphic - NYTimes.com)

morningamp: Legal scholar and developer of the Creative Commons...

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:34:14 -0600

morningamp:

Legal scholar and developer of the Creative Commons licenses that have opened up access to intellectual property old and new, Lawrence Lessig has also been focused on the corrupting influence of money on American elections and politics. Earlier this month he “retired” his popular lecture about this issue and spoke with AMp hosts Brian Babylon and Molly Adams this morning about his hopes for transforming Legislator’s dependence on funders’ money and not on voter’s opinions.

asmu: A fascinating map of the world’s most and least racially...

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:29:29 -0600

asmu:

A fascinating map of the world’s most and least racially tolerant countries

Read the Washington Post article here.

streetetiquette: Favorite photo series of Miles Davis.

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:18:59 -0600

streetetiquette:

Favorite photo series of Miles Davis.

"Maligned as a bunch of shiftless, tech-addled children raised to think they’d all get trophies,..."

Sat, 11 May 2013 12:15:18 -0600

“Maligned as a bunch of shiftless, tech-addled children raised to think they’d all get trophies, Millennials are trying to build careers out of the ruins of a job market. Amid a group that’s supposed to be a bunch of entitled kids, all I see around me are young people juggling multiple jobs and unpaid internships while trying to blot their (trigger warning!) student debt from their minds.”

- Matt Bors, Millenials Aren’t Lazy: They’re Fucked (via stoweboyd)

everydayafrica: Beautiful Camilla, 8, followed us around the...

Wed, 08 May 2013 22:41:49 -0600

everydayafrica:

Beautiful Camilla, 8, followed us around the crowded Meshenti Market under the hot sun smiling for photos while ensuring we werent overcharged for oranges. When we gave her pens and a notebook she apologized that we spent any money on her. Her only request, a photo with her and her grandmother. Bahir dar, Ethiopia. Photo by Jane Hahn @janehahn #bahirdar #ethiopia #beautiful #grandmother #market #love #family #iphoneonly

http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/31231/large/teaser_(...

Tue, 07 May 2013 15:07:46 -0600

http://s3.amazonaws.com/dk-production/images/31231/large/teaser_(44).png?1367897403