“Barge haulers on the Volga“, a late 19th century painting by Ilja Repin.
The Private Bus System that Works
October 7, 2011 by Filed Under: Public transport, Travel
“America’s 20th largest bus service — hauling 120,000 riders a day — is profitable and also illegal. It’s not really a bus service at all, but a willy-nilly aggregation of 350 licensed and 500 unlicensed privately-owned ‘dollar vans’ that roam the streets of Brooklyn and Queens, picking up passengers from street corners where city buses are either missing or inconvenient.” Read more. Via Makeshift.
The Farming Systems Trial (1981-2011)
October 5, 2011 by Filed Under: Farming
Metafilter reports that The Rodale Institute has just published the results of a 30-year study that claims that – in terms of yields, economic viability, energy usage, and human health – organic farming is better than conventional farming.
With results like these, why does conventional wisdom favour chemical farming? “Vested interests. Organic farming keeps more money on the farm and in rural communities and out of the pockets of chemical companies. As the major funders of research centres and universities, and major advertisers in the farm media, they effectively buy a pro-chemical bias.”
Human Microphones
October 5, 2011 by Filed Under: Sound amplification
People-powered sound amplification at Wall Street. Thanks to Lucas Brouns.
How to Build a Medieval City
September 20, 2011 by Filed Under: Architecture, Books & Reference, History, Random
The “Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle” is an overwhelming reference work consisting of 9 books (some 5,000 pages in total) on medieval and renaissance architecture in France. It is written in French, as you already suspected, but the detailed illustrations make it worthwhile for all architecture and history devotees. There is really all you need to know to build, for instance, a gothic cathedral, including the gargoyles. The work appeared in 1856 and was written by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, an architect known for his restorations of medieval buildings. The separate volumes can also be found on the Internet Archive.
Jua Kali: Innovation in Kenya’s Informal Economy
Wandering through winding alleys dotted with makeshift worksheds, one can’t help but feel clouded by the clanging of hammers on metal, grinding of bandsaws on wood, and the shouts of workers making sales. But soon it becomes clear that this cacophony is really a symphony of socioeconomic interactions that form what is known as the informal economy.
In Kenya, engineers in the informal economy are known as jua kali, Swahili for “hot sun,” because they toil each day under intense heat and with limited resources. But despite these conditions, or in fact because of them, the jua kali continuously demonstrate creativity and resourcefulness in solving problems.
“Making Do: Innovation in Kenya’s Informal Economy”, Steve Daniels, 2010. Full book online here and here. Hat tip to Gabriella Rubin. Related: Cameroon blacksmiths.
