Category: 🧩 Miscellanea
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February 2025
Housing January was a whirlwind as we moved out of our old house, in to our new house, and started to get unpacked and organized in the new place. In reality, this meant I wasn’t able to make any progress…
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As for new ideas of any kind – no matter how ultimately profitable or otherwise successful some of them might prove to be – there is no leeway for such chancy trial, error, and experimentation in the high-overhead economy of new construction. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.
Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities -
You Don’t Need A Full-Size Pickup Truck, You Need a Cowboy Costume
Brett Berks article, You Don’t Need A Full-Size Pickup Truck, You Need a Cowboy Costume, provides a good look at truck culture and the disconnect between how trucks are marketed and how they are actually used by owners. On one…
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Yes, people were angry about restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic, I got that, but what was being proposed in opposition? What was being proposed in response to the very real problem of dealing with a virus?
An almost humorous response from the US right came from the lieutenant governor of Texas who argued that we should be willing to sacrifice our lives in defense of the economy. Turn away from mass vaccines, contract COVID, in the name of all mighty capitalism. I was looking forward to the lieutenant governor being the first sacrificial lamb. I mean you just can’t make this up.
The response to COVID that was led by right wing authoritarian forces was coded rightwing libertarianism rhetorizing about freedom. It was a strange combination of self suicide and genocide, in other words, there was nothing here with which to offer critical support. And this movement has now expanded to address an alleged right to refuse vaccinations in the name of self control over one’s body, a hideous use of the call of the pro-choice movement.
Bill Fletcher Jr. -
January 2025
Housing In December we finalized the purchase of a new house, and sold our current house (in a brief 3 days). We celebrated Christmas but also spent a lot of time packing for the move. Moving into January, the focus…
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Can Architecture Trigger Neuroinflamation?
Studies have established that architecture can trigger a stress response, but stress is more than a mental response – it triggers a whole host of compensating mechanisms in our bodies including hormonal changes. Cleo Valentine is doing interesting research, taking…
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Thinking about hiring, the typical process for screening candidates using written applications is likely to become far less effective as it becomes a game of adversarial bots both creating applications for positions and evaluating them. In light of this I see one possibility being less emphasis on written applications going forward, resulting in more emphasis on the strength and scope of one’s personal connections in turn. This could be a big step backwards for equality and inclusion as it would increase the barriers to moving outside of one’s current social circle.
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Recapturing the Magic of the Early Blogging Days
Chuck Grimmett’s post on recapturing the magic of the early blogging days describes a lot of my intentions with the latest changes to my website. The one thing I would add from my philosophy is: ‘spend less time building, more…
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December 2024
This website After reading a number of thought provoking articles on sharing work and connecting with people, I’ve decided to become more intentional with this website and share more of what I’m doing, what I’m reading, and what I’m thinking…
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Fire Insurance Maps of Calgary
Back in the early days of fire insurance, when you wanted to insure a building, the insurance company would send a underwriter to view the building and gain a first hand appreciation of the risk. As cities began to expand…