October 2010
16 posts
4 tags
Columbus Ave. Parklet →
Columbus Ave. Parklet in San Francisco, installed 11.-12.10.2010. more pics here.
Sidewalk/outdoor cafe seating area extensions! Every day can be PARK(ing) Day!
One of the more critical issues facing outdoor urban human habitat is the paucity of space for humans to rest, relax, or just do nothing. For example, more than 70% of San Francisco’s downtown outdoor space (PUBLIC property!)...
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Carsharing Gets Easier in California: AB1871 →
Under the new law, a person may offer his car through a formal car-sharing service (like the for-profit ZipCar or the nonprofit City CarShare) and still remain covered by his personal car insurance. The solution is surprisingly simple: when the car is being driven by a car-share renter, the burden of liability insurance shifts to the driver.
oakland north, 13.10.2010. good.is, 01.10.2010.
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Rising Cost of Kimchi Alarms Koreans →
Kimchi has become so expensive that some restaurants in the capital no longer offer it free as a banchan, or side dish, a situation akin to having an American burger joint charge for ketchup, although decidedly more calamitous here. The politics editor of a major South Korean newspaper called the kimchi situation “a national tragedy,” and an editorial in Dong-a Ilbo termed it “a once in a...
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Offshore Wind Power Line Wins Backing →
Hi government, take an example from google. This would have, and still is, a perfect oportunity to create jobs and stimulate the economy while improving our living standards by lowering our fossil fuel dependency. Let’s take the 5 billion and turn it into 100 billion and do this from coast to coast. This will employ many people and become the Hoover Dam of our time. Once we’re done,...
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Postcards From The Future →
A series of postcards from the future that highlight what London could look like if it is ravaged by climate change. Each picture has a story to go with it and some of them are pretty scary!
Let’s hope we can stop anything like this from actually happening!
properrandom
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The Paralysis of the State →
Many of us would be happy to live with a bigger version of 1950s government: one that ran surpluses and was dexterous enough to tackle long-term problems as they arose. But we don’t have that government. We have an immobile government that is desperately overcommitted in all the wrong ways.
david brooks, nytimes, 12.10.2010.
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Energy & Waste Awareness Month →
This week, learn about California’s course for clean energy (12.Oct), get tips from Green Campus on reducing your negative environmental impact to prep for the Campus Conservation Nationals (14 Oct), and meet up with California’s student leaders at the CSSC Fall Clean Energy Convergence at UCSB (15.-17.Oct), all a part of October Energy and Waste Month!
student sustainability...
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The Oakland Streetcar Plan →
Stanford University undergraduate Daniel Jacobson is interested in pursuing a career in transportation planning and urban design, and I think it’s safe to say he’s off to a real good start.
The 20-year-old native of Point Richmond spent nine months of independent study producing a detailed and ingenious plan to revive Oakland’s economy: build a 2.5-mile streetcar line that...
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Korematsu Day →
[..If] Korematsu were alive today, he’d be speaking out in horror against today’s toxic climate of unfounded fear and suspicion, recognizing it as one that can rapidly lead to outrages like the Japanese American internment.
In 1998, Korematsu himself was presented with an equally high honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Bill Clinton. Courage in word and deed;...
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Feelmore: Local resident aims to open sex-positive... →
Situated only a few blocks from Oaksterdam University – the country’s first cannabis college – business leaders say Feelmore has the potential to bring more traffic to the Central Business District and perhaps draw more business to the vacant storefronts that are prevalent in the area. “There’s nothing downtown Oakland right now,” said Fred Brown, who owns Rocsil’s Shoe Company at 1701...
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A Better Market Street →
Bicycles accounted for 75% of the morning roadway traffic on San Francisco’s Market Street for the 16th annual Bike to Work Day. There was a 33% increase in cyclists biking in San Francisco on Bike to Work Day compared to last year.
Help complete the separated bikeway on Market St! Act now by emailing the Mayor. more info.
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weGrow →
The medical marijuana store previously named iGrow re-opened on Sunday as a national enterprise called weGrow. The opening attracted dozens of reporters and hundreds of visitors to what the owners call the largest store of its kind in the state. “This is one of the thriving businesses California is going to see,” said Oakland City Council member Jean Quan, one of the city leaders who spoke in...
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Greening the Armed Forces →
(I can’t repost any of the photos or captions because they’re all in a flash interactive.)
LED lighting systems will be working in Afghanistan next month. About time to get high-tech.
nytimes, 04.10.10.
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Water Use in Southwest Heads for a Day of... →
“We have a very finite resource and demand which increases and enlarges every day,” said John A. Zebre, a Wyoming lawyer and the president of the Colorado River Water Users Association.
“The problem is always going to be there,” he said. “Everything is driven by that problem.”
nytimes, 27.09.2010.
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