Animated Deconstruction
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has a great animated video showing how the deconstruction of the Deutsche Bank building downtown will happen.
« October 2005 | | December 2005 »
November 28, 2005
Roaches
My friend John took me to a reptile show on Sunday, and there was a vendor there selling several varieties of roaches. Yes, people actually keep these things as pets. With reptiles they are mainly used as food, but it definitely takes a healthy dose of biological curiosity to love one of these things.
November 18, 2005
Death To...
Then, there are some things which I just cannot explain. Like people who advocate the death of gray bushy-tailed rodents...
November 16, 2005
NYC Metro Area Commuting Patterns
The New York City Federal Reserve Bank has produced a good analysis of the changes in commuting patterns in the metropolitan area based on some recently released census data, drawing some reasonable conclusions as to why the various trends exist.
This was something that I looked at also, although not nearly as in-depth as the report. My analysis was mainly to observe the amount of long distance (or "extreme") commuting going on in the New York - New Jersey - Connecticut - Pennsylvania commuting areas. Here is the PowerPoint presentation I put together, including the GIS maps that were the main point of the project:
November 15, 2005
Beautiful Data Graphics
I came across this graphic in an article on genetic research in population distribution in Iceland for some research I am doing be in (of all things) transportation. If you are a fan of Edward Tufte, this is for you:
The colors on the top left show the genes of the original settlers in the counties of Iceland. The color wheels in the subsequent maps show the mixing of genes as the population moves around and inter-breeds. No text necessary, just an elegant way to show a complex idea.
The Economic Development Impacts of Transportation Investment - I-86
Over the summer I wrote a paper for school that took a high-level look at how investment in a transportation facility would affect the economic development outcomes of an area, with specific reference to the Interstate 86 corridor of the Southern tier counties of New York State. In the interest of open scholarship, I figured I would make the paper available online:
November 14, 2005
Jiggly SF
A complete cityscape of San Francisco constructed entirely out of Jell-O. Mmmmm.... Jell-O.
November 09, 2005
Hybrid Cabs Are Here
NY1 reports that the first hybrid cabs are out on the streets of New York City. Let's hope that we see a lot more of them - and that they prove themselves as worthy for the job.
Dinesh Takes a Walk
Dinesh is the man. He is web site has writings and pictures of his treks through Death Valley, around the Salton Sea, and to other difficult places.
November 02, 2005
Explanations
Even when it has pretty much obviously done things wrong - probably even illegal - the current administration refuses to apologize or own up to its mistakes. Okay, the president did say that the government screwed up as far as hurricane Katrina is concerned, but now they have got another large mess on their hands, the indictment of Lewis Libby, and we have more evasion instead of explanation. Nicholas Kristof put it very well in his op-ed in this past Sunday's New York Times (PDF).
November 01, 2005
Restaurant Inspections
The New York City Department of Health has an online application where you can check how your favorite restaurant did on its last sanitary inspection.