January, 2012

I’m in awe of Google Maps. To my unalloyed delight, Google’s camera operators have gotten out of their Prius and taken a stroll along Manhattan’s High Line, cameras an’ all. Now everyone with access to a computer can experience (virtually) this great urban wonder (click the image above to take a walk in Street View). [...]

ABC Science reported new research earlier this month, Pedestrians wearing headphones at risk, indicating the number of pedestrians in the US killed while wearing earphones trebled between 2004 and 2011. A report by Ninemsn said the majority of victims were male with an average age of 21 years. The authors of the study highlighted two [...]

This is the largest and longest 3D street art project in the world, certified by the Guinness Book of Records. It was painted at London’s West India Quays, Canary Wharf in November 2011 by pavement artist Joe Hill (there’s more of his work at that link). The painting covers 1,160 sq m. Here’s a video of it [...]

A common view among politicians, the media, planners and health professionals is that urban sprawl is a key cause of the modern obesity epidemic. Higher population densities and more walkable neighbourhoods, many argue, are an essential strategy for fighting this scourge of the affluent lifestyle, e.g see here and here. The trouble is both propositions are dubious. [...]

The interesting looking building in the exhibit above was designed for Manhattan internet company IAC by celebrated architect Frank Gehry and completed in 2007. Frank Gehry is of course the designer of the magnificent Guggenheim at Bilbao and the proposed new Dr Chau Chak Wing building at the University of Technology Sydney. The IAC building [...]

The key issue highlighted by Shane Warne’s spat with a cyclist last week isn’t mandatory registration of bicycles or any need to crack-down on “lycra louts” running red lights. No, despite what the Spin King and many observers would have us believe, the key issue is who “owns” the roads. Cycling offers environmental, energy and [...]