Tag: locative

Buenos Aires Street Art

I’ve been hopelessly obsessed with the street art in Buenos Aires ever since I arrived. I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the number and quality of the street stencils, wheatpastings, and graffiti around the city. They are often political in nature (see my previous post here), but not always. Some reference special aspects of Buenos Aires’ culture, such as the tango musician pictured above. Many reference pop culture icons (such as Jimi Hendrix, pictured below), while others are non-sensical, abstract, and whimsical. The function of these images is not necessarily to challenge the viewer’s sensibilities on politics, but rather to make them rethink the space they inhabitat. These images ask, ‘what is the function of the street in your city?’

the birth of a locative community?

Walking in the City

London is one of the most beautiful walking cities in the world, but it’s often hard to navigate above ground. Many people use the tube map to find their way walking the streets, even though it distorts our perception of distance and direction. As a result, people often use other transport modes even for short distances, when walking would be quicker and more pleasant: 1 in 20 people exiting Leicester Square tube station were found to have travelled a distance of less than 800m.To combat this over-use of motorized transport, and to get people out there using their feet, the exhibition proposes that London unite its myriad of bewildering street signs both typographically and formally: the same height, dimensions, fonts, terminology, etc. This will make it harder to lose oneself – and, in theory, it will also encourage people to go for a stroll around “one of the most beautiful walking cities in the world,” without relying on mechanized transport.

london’s inscrutable street signs are both a menace and a joy for losing yourself exploring. i’m sure analogies to info architecture could be found 🙂

plundr

location-based game of piracy and trading on the high seas created by area/code. Start out as a bilge-spewing land-lubber in a leaky tub, search the ocean for unsuspecting ships to pillage, upgrade your ship, and amass a fortune in black market goods.

Human Computation

For example, you might ask Mozes Mob (as I recently did) where the best car washes are in San Diego. Local subscribers will ping back almost instantly, via IM or SMS, with answers to your question.

Why do people do it? Call it an example of human computation. People are better searchers than computers are, especially for local services, and they want to share that knowledge. It works, and it’s an insanely interesting app.

using human computation and SMS to improve local search
2007-03-24:

I do this primarily for the money, but I also view it as a form of therapy to get me used to working again> The experience has gotten me thinking about pursuing a library science degree.

2007-09-22:

No one but a utopian would have predicted how readily people will work for free.

in their treatment of human computation. i also like the snarky coining of eHarmony spouse.

Headmap

these days i am enjoying headmap. i would give it a SL of 1.5

The space, the social network, thinking tools and the network interface in the same field of view. The boundaries between what is interior and what is exterior intersecting tangibly in front of your eyes.

there are notes in boxes that are empty

every room has an accessible history

every place has emotional attachments you can open and save

you can search for sadness in new york

people within 1 km of each other who have never met stop what they are doing and organise spontaneously to help with some task or other.

in a strange town you knock on the door of someone you don’t know and they give you sandwiches.

paths compete to offer themselves to you

life flows into inanimate objects

the trees hum advertising jingles

everything in the world, animate and inanimate, abstract and concrete, has thoughts attached