Note: this was previously posted at simulacra.info, but I am in the process of (re)organising my technical notes and tutorials. After giving up on Gephi (again, I really should learn), I decided it was time to get to grips with Python and iGraph since I really need to produce multiple iterations of a graph. The… Continue reading Plotting & iGraph on Lion and Mountain Lion
Extracting files from Moodle MBZ Archives with Python
These days it seems that just about every university is using Moodle, the “open-source community-based tools for learning”, to manage the delivery of course material and handling of deadlines, assignments, etc. Now I’m a fan of the OS community, but Moodle has… quirks.
Academic Presentations: the Anti-TED Talk
After a few months back on the conference speaking/attendance circuit, I’ve had something of a refresher course in the joys of academic meetings and decided it was time to write up the range of feelings — from irritation to rage — that have been stirred up as a result. I’m not going to name names… Continue reading Academic Presentations: the Anti-TED Talk
Microsoft’s Table-Top Computing: Shades of Mobile 5
I know why I keep expecting Microsoft to produce something useful: they periodically manage to pull themselves together and release an Operating System that is a measurable improvement over its predecessors (e.g. the Windows 98 to XP to 7 trajectory). However, for the most part they have a real knack for developing (or buying) a… Continue reading Microsoft’s Table-Top Computing: Shades of Mobile 5
Robot Wars: Android Off-line Mapping Face-Off
I’ve got a few trips coming up to places where either: a) I don’t want to use data because it will be expensive (i.e. America), or b) I won’t be able to use data because I will have no reception (i.e. Skye). However, in both cases I would like to be able to use my… Continue reading Robot Wars: Android Off-line Mapping Face-Off
Problems of Scale
So on Friday I went to hear my supervisor, Peter Hall, on a panel discussion with Hank Ditmar (of the Prince’s Foundation) and Will Alsop (famous architect/urban designer). The title for the discussion was “The Object, the City & the Region“, which didn’t seem to have a whole lot to do with the actual discussion… Continue reading Problems of Scale
Slow-Motion Mortgage Wreck
Over at Naked Capitalism, there has been a lot of talk about the risk of default in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As someone without a mortgage or a home part of me is kind of enjoying the whole debacle since I rather foolishly half-believe that I can sit on the sidelines and watch this… Continue reading Slow-Motion Mortgage Wreck
Visiting Bilbao
The idea that a ‘starchitect’ could regenerate an entire city effectively began with the ‘Bilbao Effect’, and a host of other cities have jumped on this particular bandwagon. Apparently, you pretty much have to get Gehry, Calatrava, Foster, Rogers, or Liebeskind on board in order to be considered (by other mayors at least) a world… Continue reading Visiting Bilbao
Local Employment & Public Transit
The Guardian reports that proposals for Britain’s new ‘eco-towns’ were found by a government panel to be ‘inadequate’. The two most oft-cited problems for the ones that weren’t “little more than a typical existing housing scheme” were local employment and transport.
Redevelopment of the West Village
From an article by Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair I was led to a web site opposed to the the redevelopment of St Vincent’s Hospital in the West Village section of Manhattan. Aside from the fact that Protect the Village is a really nice, simple site, it got me thinking about the redevelopment of dense… Continue reading Redevelopment of the West Village