𝑾𝒂𝒚𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝑬𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 -
And our response to all of this is fairly clear, isn’t it? Stop reading according to these approaches. We are fully capable of picking up (or cueing up) a book and reading it on our own terms, for our own reasons.
@david_megginson (I don't intend to #sound #snarky or #combative.) I understand where you're coming from, but I’d frame it differently. Relying on the #US to pick up the #slack you sometimes choose to leave behind — whether in the #defense of your #country, #energy #planning, or anything else — is #short-sighted. Better to invest in your own #selfreliance than to lean on others and expect (...)
Swiss vs. UK approach to major tranport projects
#dailyreport #hiring #working #communication
#architecture #planning #manage
Almost hired by a company 
, I worked with them for days.
Boss told manager to automate the workplace with 
AI.
Instead of hiring me 
, they asked ChatGPT for a “fast,
beautiful” plan. My job: set strict deadlines in this
plan for 3 months, defining artifacts/quality each
stage. After reading the ChatGPT plan 
, they finally
gave me the boss’s audio.
My approach was: 1) research, 2) architecture, 3)
schedule: 3 cycles/3 months. And I suggested an
alternative interface prioritizing AI.
They laughed :-\ at my interface idea rather than asking
actual users, then told me to leave. :-(
Lessons:
- People want “beautiful” but useless, ChatGPT-made plans
(20 pages or 3 vague bullets).
- Never again without a full contract.
- Still no solution for linking all social networks with
AI or for good RAG. ☆
Abutting cities that really should merge
In these days of tight budgets, regional competition, and occasional regional cooperation, it seems appropriate that some adjoining cities should seriously consider merging. Being codependent whether they want to admit that or not, merging can give these separate cities more prestige and power as a unified force.
For example, merging Lafayette and West Lafayette, Indiana would instantly create the third most populous city in the State of Indiana. While right now the area only has direct flights to Chicago O’Hare, as the third most populous city, Greater Lafayette could potentially attract flights to other Midwest hubs like Detroit and St. Louis. In other cases, a larger population can be attractive to businesses considering a local expansion or relocation to the area.
Largest cities in Indiana in 2025 per World Population Review:
2. Fort Wayne = 273,736
3. Greater Lafayette (if Lafayette and West Lafayette merged) = 116,510
4. Evansville = 113,971
Lansing and East Lansing would also jump into third place in Michigan if they merged giving the area more economic and political clout. Bloomington-Normal would become the sixth largest in Illinois just ahead of Peoria-East Peoria in seventh if they were combined. In Colorado, Pueblo would leap from 10th to 7th place in the state if it and Pueblo West were unified.
Merging is something the communities listed below along with their citizens, civic and political leaders, as well as chambers of commerce should seriously consider. There are likely many other examples across the country. The easiest cases could potentially be those cities where one of the two does not have a strong and distinct central business district nor a long history as an independent community – Pueblo West, Prescott Valley, and Spokane Valleys being three examples from the list below.
Food for thought for those who feel streamlining government and services is beneficial and for those who advocate for their community to become a state, regional, or national leader. Whether political turf battles would allow such steps to ever happen is the great unknown.
Peace!
——-
Source: maps.google.comLafayette-West Lafayette, Indiana into Greater Lafayette
Lansing-East Lansing, Michigan into Greater Lansing
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois into Greater Bloomington
Pueblo-Pueblo West, Colorado into solely Pueblo
Prescott-Prescott Valley, Arizona into Greater Prescott
Spokane-Spokane Valley, Washington into solely Spokane
Tuscaloosa-Northport, Alabama into solely Tuscaloosa
Little Rock-North Little Rock, Arkansas into solely Little Rock
Peoria-East Peoria, Illinois into solely Peoria
Las Vegas-North Las Vegas, Nevada into solely Las Vegas
Finishing up the outline for “To Gain Knowledge: Coins of Destiny 3”. I have a good story and the plot is laid out in a way I like. Once I start actual writing, I’m sure I’ll have other/new ideas.
Blind to Disruption – The CEOs Who Missed the Future via Steve Blank [Shared]
In the early 20th century, the United States was home to more than 4,000 carriage and wagon manufacturers. They were the backbone of mobility and the precursors of automobiles, used for personal transportation, goods delivery, military logistics, public transit, and more. These companies employed tens of thousands of workers and formed the heart of an ecosystem of blacksmiths, wheelwrights, saddle makers, stables, and feed suppliers.
And within two decades, they were gone. Only 1 company out of 4,000 carriage and wagon makers pivoted to automobiles.
A new #AVLWatchdog story on our loss of tree canopy during #Helene, and the larger missing piece of our Urban Forestry committee and Tree City designation.
An alleyway of hope towards community healing
Sadly in the United States, racism and bigotry are hardly a new thing. No matter how much we want to deny it, this country was largely born of racism and far too many of our fellow citizens continue to practice it on a daily basis.
Alley before – Source: patronicity.com Ohki Alley now Source: patronicity.comThat’s why it was so refreshing and rewarding to recently stumble upon a revitalized alleyway in small Indiana town that is attempting to right a terrible past wrong, while also adding walkable placemaking feature for the community.
Source: indianahistory.orgThe Ohki Alley in downtown Columbia City, Indiana is located directly across from the Whitley County Courthouse. This narrow alley honors Shinzo Ohki, a Japanese immigrant to the area who built a thriving soy sauce business (Show-You Sauce), but who also felt the sting of bigotry during World War II (see below).
“A Kind and Gentle Man”
“I first met Shinzo Ohki in the early summer of 1942. My family had moved to 203 Brownwood Avenue in Columbia City and the Ohki’s were neighbors. I was about 9 years old at the time.
My brother, Harrison, and I developed a neighborhood business of mowing lawns, doing yard work and general odd jobs as needed. We had a good summer business of about eight or nine customers for walk and driveway snow shoveling, plus stacking wood. In those days, many home owners burned wood in the dwelling heating system. The truck from Morsches Lumber Company would dump a load of wood at the curb and it was the property owners responsibility to handle it. Our job was to toss the wood, one piece at a time, in the basement window and then stack it neatly near the furnace. It was hard work but also steady work and good exercise.
As I became better acquainted with Mr. Ohki, I also got to know his wife and daughter. They were all soft spoken and gentle people. They also were very interested in you and your welfare.
Mr. Ohki’s daughter, Grace, was in college at the time and a talented musician and world-class clarinet player. I remember her as Paid Advertisement
a beautiful young lady who was always asking me about school and any plans I had.Here we must remember the time frame. It was the early 1940s and World War II was just getting going.
My brother and I were very much enjoying our relationship with the Ohki family. Shinzo always talked with us and always overpaid us.
One summer day, after we had finished our work, Mr. Ohki came and paid us $10.00 each the usual amount for the weekly job was about $1.00 a piece. He was very soft-spoken, as usual, but not so cheerful that day. He said “You boys won’t be able to work for me anymore. It will be bad for you and your family if you do. I want you to tell your mother and dad everything I say and they will explain it.” He turned and quietly and quickly left. I think he was crying.
We started to cry as we walked home, thinking we had been fired from our job. We did as Shinzo had asked and told our folks everything he had said. They explained that others in our small town might bring grief to us for associating with a Japanese family a mystery to me at the time but well understood in later years.
True to his nature, Mr. Ohki was more concerned for our welfare than for his own.
My memory of him has not changed or dimmed over these past almost eighty years. He was indeed a kind and gentle man.”
The alley is adorned with tables and chairs, flowers, lighting, murals, and several historic markers about Mr. Ohki’s life. There is even a tiny ice cream shop (Alley Scoops) tucked into a doorway pocket along the corridor. The alley revitalization project was completed in 2020.
In today’s cantankerous environment, this little alleyway of hope is a charming breath of fresh air, both as a symbol of how to heal past sins, but also as a method for knitting the community back together physically with a wonderful placemaking featuring in the heart of downtown. And whenever you can successfully achieve two goals with a single project, that’s certainly a win-win situation. Kudos to a job well done, Columbia City.
Peace!
p.s. On this 80 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan (today), this post about healing seems particularly appropriate. May humanity find lasting peace so that such brutal consequences of war never happen again.
13 Italian restaurants in Melbourne guaranteed to fuel your fire https://www.diningandcooking.com/2216703/13-italian-restaurants-in-melbourne-guaranteed-to-fuel-your-fire/ #BistroFood #EatingOut #FoodAndWine #HpFeature #Italia #Italian #ItalianBistroFood #italiano #italy #Listicle #MelbournePosts2 #planning #VicPosts4
Just wrote up and posted about how I'm using the Everbook system over on tumblr. There's not a ton out there on it so I wanted to share my notes.
https://hillbillyoracle.tumblr.com/post/790702399918637056/intro-to-the-everbook-system
I just realized/decided one of my characters needs to die for the book/trilogy to work. And here I thought, it was going to be more important.
Happy #NationalInternDay to our #aviation interns Jeonghyeon Kim and Hayden Mena! 
#DYK This year, WSP USA is welcoming 749 interns all across the nation! 
#airports #engineering #planning #wearewsp
Working list: Tallest water tower in each Canadian province/territory
Provided below is a working list of the tallest water tower in each Canadian province or territory. Given the age of some of these water towers, it is likely that taller towers exist, but data is not readily available on the internet at the present time. As new/additional information is located the list will be updated accordingly.
Peace!
Source: eureka4u.com Source: dissolve.com——-
ALBERTA: Fort Saskatchewan Water Tower (1957) = 150 feet/45.7 m
BRITISH COLUMBIA: Simon Fraser University Water Tower (1965) ~ 140 feet/33.2 m
MANITOBA: St. Boniface Water Tower (1936) = 171 feet/52.12 m
NEW BRUNSWICK: Dieppe CET Water Tower (2000) = 167 feet/51 m
NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR: Bonavista Water Tower (2017) = 150 feet/45.7 m
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES: Fort Smith Water Tower (1958) = 132 feet/40.23 m
NOVA SCOTIA: Hemlock Water Storage Tank = 102 feet/31 m
NUNAVUT: None identified to date
ONTARIO: Paris/West Brant CET Water Tower (2020) = 203 feet/62 m
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: Wellington CET Water Tower (2023) = 180 feet/55 m
QUEBEC: Pointe-Claire Standpipe (1954) = 125.5 feet/39.5 m
SASKATCHEWAN: Melville Water Tower (1982) = 155 feet/47.24 m
YUKON: None identified to date
SOURCES:
@daliazygas @ajsadauskas It really is!
You can literally walk from one end of town to the other along fully pedestrian streets.
You read in old books about people "promenading". Of people seeing and being seen.
Of people sitting to just watch people passing by. Of people walking down the boulevard in their best designer gear.
And especially in that tree-lined centre corridor, with the park benches, there's a lot of folks doing that today.
Something that really stood out to me was the diversity of different kinds of people who were cycling, rollerskating, and scootering down Laisvės Alėja.
It wasn't just the usual middle aged men in lycra.
There were young kids, right through to elderly grandmas and grandpas.
Even whole families cycling together!
I saw a number of young families, with mum, dad, and two kids around six or eight, all cycling together!
And something else you don't often see elsewhere: Parents cycling with their teenaged sons or daughters.
The skateboarders are treated as just another mode of active transport, instead of as something to be banned.
Which leads to skaters getting to where they need to go, respectful of other people.
There's also a lot of people who either live or work within a block or two of the street. Many of the rest head there in their spare time to have a coffee, or a drink, or a meal with friends. Or go to a show at one of the theatres, or a concert.
People don't want to sit in their apartments when it's sunny and 24 degrees (celsius) in Summer, and the days are long. They want to sit outside and catch up with friends and colleagues at a café/bar after work.
So the street basically functions as the city's communal living room.
As a result, there's constantly people spontaneously bumping into a friend, or a neighbour, or a colleague, and saying "labas".
Pictures can only tell half the story. It really is a great vibe in Kaunas during the Summertime.
#Urbanism #City #Cities #Planning #UrbanPlanning #Kaunas #Lietuva #Lithuania #bike #bicycle #cycle #cycling #walking #Europe
oooh! "Washington State Department of Commerce launches statewide Washington State Zoning Atlas to support smarter planning"
Commercial airports with three or more parallel runways on the same alignment
Identified below are the 43 airports around the globe that have three or more parallel runways set at the same alignment. This list does not mean all of these airports have triple simultaneous landing and takeoff capacities. Those 31 airports from this list are noted in bold. Chicago O’Hare International is the only airport that has two sets of three parallel runways.
Source: faa.govAfrica, Asia, Europe, and North America are represented on the list. Twenty-one of the 43 airports are located in the United States while six are in China.
Peace!
——-
Amsterdam Schipol International
Atlanta Hartsfield International
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International
Beijing Capital International
Beijing Daxing International
Boston Logan International (one runway is very short at 2500′ for general aviation)
Cairo International
Source: xplanereviews.comCharlotte Douglas International
Chicago O’Hare International (x 2)
Chongqing Jiangbei International
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International
Dallas-Fort Worth International
Delhi Indira Gandhi International
Denver International
Detroit Metropolitan
Guangzhou Baiyun International
Houston Bush Intercontinental
Istanbul Antalya
Istanbul International
Source: en.m.wikipedia.orgJakarta Soekarno–Hatta International
Jeddah King Abdulaziz International
Kuala Lumpur International
Kuwait International
Los Angeles International
Memphis International
Miami International
Moscow Domodedovo Airport
Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport
Nashville International
Source: faa.govOrlando International
Paris DeGaulle International
Philadelphia International (one runway is quite short at 5,000′ for general aviation)
Phoenix Sky Harbor International
Pittsburgh International
Salt Lake City International (one of the runways is slightly askew from the others)
Seattle-Tacoma International
Seoul Incheon International
Shanghai Pudong International
Singapore Changi International
St. Louis Lambert International
Source: en.wikipedia.org and faa.govToronto Pearson International
Washington Dulles International
Wuhan Tianhe International
SOURCES:
Dana decided she wanted to help out with the product photos 
#catstadon
This is my Plan on 1 Page bundle--it comes with daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly templates, each on their own single page. It's perfect for digital notebooks, but you can also print them for paper #planning!
#supernote #planner #printable #template
https://www.krholton.com/product-page/planner-template-plan-on-one-page-bundle-a5
I’m working out the plot/scene timeline for Coins of Destiny 3. I have a lot of loose ends I need to tie together in this last and final (redundant) book in the series.
Ακαδημαϊκές προαγωγές στη Σχολή Αρχιτεκτονικής και Σχεδιασμού του MIT το 2025 https://greekhub.org/akadimaikes-proagoges-sti-scholi-architektonikis-kai-schediasmou-tou-mit-to-2025/ #academic #Architecture #faculty #MIT #News #Planning #promotions #recognizes #School #GreekHub
