Link dump 1
Things I have been reading recently.
Want fewer car accidents? Remove traffic signals and road signs
Monderman’s philosophy, popularly called “shared space,” as coined by the English urban designer Ben Hamilton-Baillie, has been implemented in cities around the world. It seems to be working. Instead of causing chaos and collisions, the “red-light-removal schemes” almost always result in improved sociability and traffic flow, and fewer accidents in some cases. A study of center-line removal in Wiltshire, U.K., for instance, found that people drove more safely without the markings and the number of accidents decreased by 35 percent.
My 2024 thoughts on the state of social media
One of the things I like about Bluesky is its use of an open protocol, which reduces the chances that it will follow the fate that befell Twitter. I’ve set my domain for Bluesky, so hopefully even if bad things happen to Bluesky itself, the AT protocol will live on.
Haka erupts in Parliament before Treaty Principles Bill passes first reading
During the count of votes for and against the bill, Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke stood up from her seat starting a haka directed at Seymour, which her colleagues and MPs from the Greens and Labour joined. When people in the public gallery above joined in loudly, Speaker Gerry Brownlee suspended Parliament for an hour until the gallery was cleared.
How Double-Loaded Sidewalks Bring Safety, Comfort, and Joy to Our Streets
Double loading a sidewalk is when you put amenities or features on both sides of the pedestrian walkway, such as outdoor seating, street trees, kiosks, and dining sheds. This makes the walkway feel like a kind of “safe zone” drawing people in large numbers to gather and enjoy the stretches where everyone feels safe. This leads to a much more enjoyable, safer, and more relaxed experience than walking right alongside traffic. It turns the sidewalk from an afterthought of the street’s design into the main attraction.
Deus Ex (Ion Storm Austin, released June 23, 2000) is often considered one of the greatest games of all time. Its story is centered around real world conspiracy theories in the year 2052, which informs an aesthetic characterized as near future cyberpunk. The setting combines and contrasts recognizable real-world architecture and set dressing with futuristic Sci-Fi technology.
Why I Will Always Be Angry About Software Engineering
To put it very simply, the little things matter. The sandwiches that get sent to hospitals matter. Ritalin supply chains matter, lumbar support in chairs matter, and yes, stupid React widgets matter. They go out into society, and every time someone says “Ah, I just want to get paid”, we get another terrible intersection that haunts the community for five generations. I’m going to stay angry about bad software engineering.
The researchers found that honoki, a kind of magnolia tree native in Japan and traditionally used for sword sheaths, is most suited for spacecraft, after a 10-month experiment aboard the International Space Station. LignoSat is made of honoki, using a traditional Japanese crafts technique without screws or glue. Once deployed, LignoSat will stay in orbit for six months, with the electronic components onboard measuring how wood endures the extreme environment of space, where temperatures fluctuate from -100 to 100 degrees Celsius every 45 minutes as it orbits from darkness to sunlight.
Denver rideshare drivers just launched a worker-owned co-op
Getting there had required relentless organizing, and fundraising, as well as reassuring skeptical rideshare drivers, who doubted that a worker-owned co-op could challenge the Uber-Lyft duopoly – which controls 98% of the U.S. rideshare market. It is also a software-engineering feat: Theirs is the first driver-owned rideshare app in the US to offer both on-demand and pre-scheduled rides. There were also legislative hurdles, such as the law that required “transportation network companies” to pay an annual permit fee of $111,250 to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.