“What has happened to the children who once played freely on the streets?”
This question was asked by british artist Bruno Taylor, as part of a new project to explore public spaces, and their use.
“71% of adults used to play on the streets when they were young. 21% of children do so now. Are we designing children and play out of the public realm?
This project is a study into different ways of bringing play back into public space. It focuses on ways of incorporating incidental play in the public realm by not so much as having separate play equipment that dictates the users but by using existing furniture and architectural elements that indicate playful behaviour for all.
It asks us to question the current framework for public space and whether it is sufficient while also giving permission for young people to play in public.
You read the subject correct - gas strikes generally don’t work, and here’s a short rant on why:
Every year when gas prices spike for some yet-unknown reason (other than profit), I get emails, SMS messages, IM messages and whatnot talking about how the world/nation/state/city is attempting to hold a “Fuel Strike” on a specific day.
The instructions generally are simple:
“Don’t buy gas on <day>”
The problem with this kind of strike, is that they never work. The short timespan is simply to short to have any impact, since people will storm gas stations the day before (and, potentially, the day after) in order to get their fill of gasoline.
One way in which a fuel strike might work (emphasis on might), is by prolonging the duration of the strike. I imagine if we all refused to fill fuel for a month or so, it might have some sort of impact (negative or positive, who knows).
However, we Americans are too in love with our gas-guzzling vehicles to last a long enough amount of time to have any impact.
I have attempted to solve the fuel consumption (and thus expense) issue for me by riding both my bicycle and my motorcycle to the extent that I can. Bicycle is near-free (food costs increase with the metabolism increase), and my motorcycle gets about 4 times the gas mileage that my truck does. (It has other drawbacks, though.)
So please, don’t bother holding a one-day strike (of any kind, actually) - it won’t accomplish anything, and you’ll be out time and energy best spent some other way.
I don’t normally engage in spreading more effluvia about internet fads than neccesary, but I’ll make an exception.
LiveJournal, one of the oldest blog hosting sites, recently was bought out by some Russian company. This is really irrelevant, except for the fact that this new company has enacted a new subscriber policy in which they have done away with the gratis[0] ad-free signup option.
Previously there were several levels of subscribership:
Basic: Free w/no ads
Plus: Free w/ads
Paid: Paid w/no ads (recurring cost)
Permanent: Paid w/no ads (one time, $$)
Early Adopters (founders, people who’ve been around for a while, etc)
SUP (the Russian company)’s new policy
did away with the basic-level accounts, still leaving a “free” option, however it is (somewhat) hampered with advertisements).
Most of the people who are jumping on the boycott bandwagon (including, to a large degree the instigator) seem to confuse the difference between the “basic” account type being disabled and all free account types being disabled.
Unfortunately, they are in the wrong on this matter. You can still create a free account, you just have to deal with a few advertisements (or install an ad blocker - works well for me).
Having said all that, I don’t expect the basic accounts to return.
However, I envision a black market on basic (free, ad-free) LiveJournal accounts emerging, and my account will gladly be sold to the highest bidder.
What is the media trying to make everybody afraid of?
Originally I was going to respond as a comment, but as I kept typing, I realised that it might just make a halfway decent blog entry.
So here goes - my take on a mostly volatile topic:
Fear is a very powerful emotion. Which means that if you can get someone to feel fear, you have their attention. This is the same concept exploited in horror movies.
So by causing a feeling of fear, perceived or real, the media has our attention. And that’s their job. To get your attention. And mine. This is what brings them money. They’re in the business of attracting attention.
I don’t know what agenda or motive they might have (beyond $$’s), but I don’t think it matters. What does matter to me, is that I am tired of the continual attempts to evoke this emotion from us, regardless of the reason behind it.
Sure, there’s legitimate times when fear is warranted - real news stories, etc. But the concept of an actual “war on terror” is a joke, if you ask me. Most actions end up being knee-jerk reactions designed to placate the public, or to show that “we are in control” somehow.
This posting is mostly for my friends who may or many not be internet-savvy enough to know how to look past all the fear mongering and hyperbole that’s been put out there by media regarding the recent network cable breaks overseas.
I will try to summarize the information that was presented here, here, here and here - if you want more in-depth, please to go those links. :)
In a nutshell: Last week two undersea cables were cut in the Mediterranean north of Egypt. Whether this was an accident or not is still to be determined. The affected cables were SEA-ME-WE-4 and FLAG Europe-Asia.
The countries hardest affected by these cable cuts were Egypt, Pakistan, India and Kuwait.
Iran, contrary to common belief, was not even in the 10 top affected countries, despite having lost approx. 20% of it’s connectivity.
Don’t get me wrong, losing 20% of a countries internet connectivity is bad - real bad - but nothing compared to the 90+ percent for Egypt and Pakistan.
An interesting point of note, is that many of the countries have managed to recover some of their lost connectivity - but they’re far from being out of the woods. And even if in the next week or so more of the connectivity is re-established, it won’t be until cable repairs are completed that the internet for those affected, will be back at full speed. (Currently, some of Europe is getting across the Mediterranean via the US and Asia….)
The article talks about a lady from Iceland, and her recent experience visiting the US.
It went fine enough until, upon going through Immigration, it was noticed that she had overstayed her visa on a visit in 1995. At this point her experience turned into something like a horror movie. She was detained, questioned, denied food for 14 hours, denied making any contact (Until they presented her with a phone that could make collect-only calls, but was unable to make international calls, heh), chained, cuffed, jailed overnight, etc.
It really makes you wonder what our society has come to, when for all intents of purpose innocent people, are treated like criminals.
Not that American society at large probably cares - after all, it won’t happen to US. No - we’ll go on and live our picture-perfect lives.
People sometimes ask me “If you dislike America so much, why do you stay here?” I dunno - I ask myself the same question every time I come across situations like this.
(If you are not comfortable discussing females wearing strings up their butt cracks, please refrain from reading any further.)
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Dear thong-clad women of Austin,
I know that at least in some circumstances, wearing a thong can be appropriate…. At home with your husband (for the conservative) or your girlfriend (for the liberals).
I understand some women find them more comfortable, or aesthetically pleasing, or what have you not - what do I know? I either wear underwear, or I don’t.
However, going to the grocery store is generally not one of those moments… although, it is understandable - should you be on your way from your home, and need to stop by the grocery store, on your way to a late-night tryst - that you should find yourself in the store while wearing a thong.
Being as the logistics of perhaps going out, getting what you need, going home, changing, and then going to your tryst - are somewhat more complicated than necessary… I will grant you the allowance of wearing thongs to the grocery store.
However, thongs, in all their aesthetically pleasing-ness… Do NOT need to show two inches above the waist of your workout pants… I mean, really - would you want to see my underwear after a day of working construction in the sun? Hardly. Well, me neither.
Save for a few, any man can imagine the vile disgust that exists at the other end of that oh-so-thin piece of cloth. It’s more like a string, left to rot at the bottom of a sewer.
Well, so maybe not all thongs… But DAMN, some of you girls got some UGLY thong-action going on.
