One of the big reasons for opposing the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline is because of how 200 oil tankers a year would threaten the coast of British Columbia. I think everyone who has seen that coastline understands its beauty and ecological importance. At the same time, I suspect the idea can be made more salient [...]
Finding my way to a new building, it struck me that two major strategies are possible in urban pathfinding. You can try to follow the most efficient path or you can try to minimize your odds of getting lost. Call those the ‘efficiency’ and ‘reduced risk’ approaches. Each has some level of appeal. Nobody wants [...]
My brother Mica has released a trailer for a documentary he is making about his eleven months of travel in southeast Asia: It looks like it will be a lively and entertaining film.
My friend Tristan and his brother are crossing Canada by train, and blogging along the way: On Board an Empty Train A Bedroom across the Country Note: Maybe it’s not so low-carbon, if the train is largely empty.
Anyone who has lived in the UK is probably familiar with roundabouts: a type of intersection that does away with traffic signals, in favour of rotation around a central area. They may be a bit confusing to the unfamiliar, but they apparently have large advantages in both safety and speed: One of their main attractions, [...]
The GRE is in four days, and I am pretty nervous. I don’t think it should be the most important consideration, when people are applying to graduate school. It is a very artificial test, largely based on some really narrow conceptions of how language should be used. I bet a lot of authors who have [...]
Way back in August 2010, I took a bunch of photos in New York City which I never got around to uploading to Flickr. I am in the process of uploading them now.
Yesterday I was able to do some minimal processing of my photos from New Orleans and put them online, using a rented Mac Pro at a printing shop. A number of them could benefit from additional post-processing, but it is tedious to spend time editing JPEG files in Photoshop. I prefer to stick to a [...]
When I was in New Orleans, a local led me to this streetcar storage and repair centre. I ended up with some pleasing photos: Streetcars and pickup truck Red and green ‘Riverfront’ car Car interior Roof support I am working on processing and uploading all my New Orleans photos to Flickr.