noupside:
This is a dress I pinned on Pinterest. I like vintage dresses, and sometimes save pics of awesome ones that I’ll never be able to buy. 2379 people have repinned this so far.
This isn’t a #humblebrag. Seeing all of the repin notices got me thinking about what kind of curation…
Source: noupside
FOR years urban planners have emphasised the needs of the motorist over those of the pedestrian. Thanks partly to greenery, partly to a greater understanding of how pedestrians behave, and partly to concerns about social cohesion, priorities are changing.
Source: economist.com
Source: simnett
At Lumatic, we’re reinventing the navigation experience from the ground up to be easy to use for pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders. On the back-end, we’re using existing services when we can, but we’re also not afraid to roll our own systems when we can’t.
When it comes to the actual routing algorithms, we’ve tried using all the existing services we can find, but they have all proven to be too limiting for one reason or another. For example, information about street crossings is usually not provided, even though this is an extremely useful tool for pedestrian navigation and affirmation.
In order to obtain the flexibility we desire, we’ve found it necessary to begin development of our own customized routing algorithms on top of Open Street Map (OSM). This is easier said than done, because OSM data is almost completely free form, unstructured, user-generated data. It consists of “nodes” and “ways,” which are simply lists of connected nodes. Ways could be used to store anything from census lines, to building polygons to pieces of walking paths, streets or highways, and the only way to know what’s what is to look at the tags, which are often not completely consistent.
It wasn’t easy, but we’ve developed robust algorithms for processing that jumble of data into a reliable graph structure. Here’s a sample view of the completed graph (green) overlaid on top of OSM (blue):
With the graph structure, everything becomes easier. We can now perform our own routing, which puts us on par with other services like Bing or Mapquest,
However, because we’re doing it ourselves, we can also get all the information we need about street crossings. We can correct errors in the underlying street data when we find them (Bing and other services are not perfect). We can even customize routing based on all sorts of things — don’t want to walk up hills? Want to take the scenic route? Want the quickest route, or the cheapest route, or some combination inbetween based on your preferences? Want the routing algorithm to steer around steep hills, or know that you have a Muni pass and take that into account when assessing public transportation options? These are all things that you can look forward to from us at Lumatic in the future.
- Stuart Heinrich, Chief Graphics and Computer Vision Engineer
it’s a lot like a smartphone. It might not sync with Google or Apple’s cloud services, but there’s a decent Webkit-based web browser (or you can run Opera Mini), lots of apps (including Angry Birds and web apps), and support for 3G, WiFi, and Bluetooth. Series 40 even supports tethering: With a dinky, light-weight Series 40 phone in your pocket, you can access the internet on your laptop or tablet from anywhere.
Source: extremetech.com
Apple’s iOS-based iPhones and iPads are still pretty expensive for mainstream consumption in the Indian market, but it’s not the case with Android. (via Google dominates Indian Android app space)
Source: tech2.in.com
thewavingcat:
@pr1001 recommended reading, includes “The Theory of Dérive” by dmos.tv
Source: thewavingcat
cartophile:
“Sort of TomTom, early tripmaster: rolling key map. The map passes the screen in a tempo that depends on the speed of the car. [1932]”
Fascinating.
(via dpstyles)
Source: cartophile
We definitely want to play on the kindle phone, but is the seven inch format good for mobile mapping?
Probably the biggest problem with cars in cities is that they require huge amounts of land for storage (a.k.a. parking). Here is a photo of Midtown Atlanta between 5th street and 12th street. This is one of the densest and most pedestrian-friendly ares in the entire state of Georgia. The red blocks indicate parcels of land that are 100% dedicated to car storage. (via Cars Kill Cities « Progressive Transit)
Source: progressivetransit.wordpress.com
Hsieh and a few partners — the vast majority of the investment is Hsieh’s — plan to spend $350 million to develop and build a small city in the roughly 1.5-square mile downtown area around the Fremont East and Arts District areas (for CES-trekkers and other Vegas aficionados, it’s a few miles north of the Strip). Hsieh’s goal: To turn the overlooked area into a neighborhood not just for his workers’ coffee breaks, but a new live/work/play destination for Las Vegas’ emerging creative class.
Tony Hsieh’s new $350 million startup - Fortune Tech
Rafer sez:
Love love love.
Source: CNN