links for 2011-09-20

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  • SF produce giveaway
  • "Chinese natural resource efficiency – combining vegetable scraps and incense at a grave in Wellington during Ching Ming festival. I’ve also noted the use of broccoli stalk bases as sign holders by Chinese at the local farmers market. Making the most of what nature provides to support human endeavor – from faith to commerce."

Notes from Susan Leigh Star colloquium

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Celebration of Leigh Star: Her Work and Intellectual Legacy
San Francisco, September 9th-10th, 2011

I'm told that there will be video posted, but in the meantime, these (partial, paraphrased, etc) notes might be helpful.

In honor of my upcoming talk on urban green space at IDSA's annual conference, I'm resurrecting a few sketches from the notebook (if my "notebook," you mean a folder on a hard drive). I couldn't believe that it's been almost five years since I put them together. Enjoy!

(Some of these photos use Flickr photos. I never intended these for public viewing, and I've misplaced the author data, and even the original files. If one of the photos belongs to you or someone you know, let me know and I will add in a visible credit or take the photo down ASAP.)

Play-powered park

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Using playground equipment - swings, teeter-totters, see-saws and others - generates friction, which could be used to generate electricity. The Play Powered Park uses children's play to power an animated sculpture (or more than one, depending on the amount of electricity that could be generated). The level of animation in the sculpture visualizes the amount of activity in the park.

Urban migrations

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(note the 2007-style antenna on the phone!)

San Francisco provides many habitats for migrating animals, especially its lakes and waterfronts. Urban Migrations helps create a sense of anticipation about these seasonal migrations, then helps families plan visits to the parks and open spaces where they can be found. By sending participants messages about the upcoming arrival of animals such as swallows, whales, and geese, it makes the 'velocity' of animal travel across the natural and built landscape more visible.

Bounce games

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Augmenting everyday rubber balls and playing field goal posts with proximity sensors gives playing fields and playgrounds the capacity to provide interactive experiences similar to those kids enjoy at home. At the same time, the spaces and balls can still be used for traditional games. Since the balls remain inexpensive, they can be easily replaced.

links for 2011-09-08

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links for 2011-09-03

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links for 2011-08-29

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links for 2011-08-26

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  • "Lakewood is not a place of anxious striving. It’s not a place where people worry about where they are going to go next. It’s a place where people worry more about where they might fall down to. The American myth is that all of this was delivered to us by men and women driven by anxious striving. And their anxious striving delivered a place where people who are not anxious strivers can lead ordinary lives. An interesting irony. I don’t know–should the next American city be a place of anxious striving or should it be a place of desire satisfied? Should the next American city be a place where people want to leave, or people want to stay?"
    (tags: urban suburban)

links for 2011-08-22

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