etech08: Information Visualization is a Medium, by Stamen Design – we make money not art
tags: apps, data, data_visualization, eric_rodenbeck, etech08, gis, mapping_apps, o’reilly, regine, wmmna
Intriguing summing up by Regine from We Make Money Not Art of Eric Rodenbeck’s presentation at etech08, “Information Visualization is a Medium.” I especially liked this, on the Crime Spotting app:
“…interactive map of crimes in Oakland was developed with the idea of offering a tool for understanding crime in cities.
“You can get a precise overview of what is happening in your neighbourhood (or the one where you plan to rent a house) over time, you can select the crimes you want to see and if you like that sort of thrill, crime alerts can be delivered to you in almost real time via RSS or email.
“Crimespotting helps people explore public information, draw connections, see pattern emerge and find new possibilities for questioning.
The website says: We believe that civic data should be exposed to the public in a more open way. With these maps, we hope to inspire local governments to use this data visualization model for the public release of many different kinds of data: tree plantings, new schools, applications for liquor licenses, and any other information that matters to people who live in neighborhoods.”
Yes, data should be “exposed to the public in a more open way.”
Cool Hunting: Thomas Heatherwick East Beach Cafe Annotated
tags: architecture, beach_cafe, coolhunting, thomas_heatherwick
Wow, this is interesting… And a great point made by Coolhunting’s author(s): that “one can’t help but think that this is a woefully under-explored area of building design.” Looking at Heatherwick’s design, I’d have to agree. The combination of sculpture and flotsam-jetsam washed-ashore appearance is compelling. It’s very modern/ new, but also ancient-looking (looks a bit like the spine bones from a giant whale or something)…
Placemaking « Stephen Rees’s blog Annotated
tags: jan_gehl, lectures, place_making, reference, stephen_rees, urbanism
Stephen Rees blogs Jan Gehl’s talk at the Gateway Theatre, Richmond February 28, 2008. Found via Gordon Price (“Pricetags”), otherwise I would have missed this excellent summary (and a great comments thread, too). Coincidentally, I also watched Andres Duany’s very engaging talk, “On the Edge,” from January 16/08 on the SFU “City Program” site (video here). It’s a bit disconcerting to think that but for a fluke, I could have missed both these items. I don’t remember seeing Gehl’s lecture announced, and I didn’t see any media follow-ups anywhere else. Duany’s lecture I knew about, but missed that a video of same was available. Well, better late than never, I guess…