Arduino The Documentary is finally out. We have been waiting for long, but now you can see it at Vimeo (EN, ES) and download it from Archive.org (links coming soon). The file is licensed under CC-SA 3.0 and can be redistributed. The makers are working in making a batch of DVDs that will include the full interviews as well as footage of the different locations where the documentary was made (ITP, Parsons,Adafruit, and Makerbot New York; Medialab Prado and IES Miguel Hernandez, Madrid; Laboral Centro de Arte, Gijon). Here the documentary in English:
[Councillor Vaughan replies] Transit City is fiscally responsible and socially important
[the first intelligent reply I have seen!] From:
Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Subject: Re: Transit City is fiscally responsible and socially important Dear Quinn, I have always supported Transit City and continue to believe that it
is the best opportunity to provide a mass transit network to the City
of Toronto. It is not simply the best we can do under the
circumstances; it’s the right thing to do period. As a municipal project, much more than just transportation needs are
addressed by Transit City. The programme delivers train service to
virtually every corner of the city while providing opportunities for
economic, social and cultural renewal to some of Toronto’s most
distressed neighbourhoods. Transit City provides cheap, efficient and environmentally sound
transportation to the city’s priority neighbourhoods. These are
communities that are struggling under the weight of poor housing,
social isolation and diminished economic opportunity. Transit City
delivers connectivity and affluence to these areas. With the
introduction of Transit City, land values go up and create platforms
for revitalization of the housing stock which will bring jobs and
economic opportunity to the commercial properties in the area. New tax
revenue flows from this investment. City-owned lands increase in value
and public investments in local social infrastructure like schools,
libraries, community health centres and recreation centres suddenly
become more sustainable. The innovative Tower Renewal Project relies on land values being
inflated by proximity to transit. Open fields and abandoned industrial
land, like the properties around the Woodbine racetrack, are brought
to market with an investment and service like Transit City. Other city
projects like the revitalization of the Yonge-Eglinton bus bays also
benefit by becoming major transit nodes. Without the additional lines
that Transit City provides, these projects will fail to deliver the
economic and social benefits first predicted. The city will be left
poorer as a result. Cancelling Transit City will also cost the city hundreds of millions
of dollars in penalties and unneeded studies and Environmental
Assessments. Additionally, despite the expenditures the city is left
with the status quo. The status quo is a woefully deficient
transportation system. According to the Board of Trade gridlock is
currently costing Toronto’s economy billions in lost productivity. Replacing the transit part of the city’s approach to fighting gridlock
from Light Rapid Transit (LRT) to subways will cost billions more and
actually deliver less service, or at best, the same amount of transit
capacity. The only thing that changes is the length of a bus ride and
the station you arrive at. Financing The incoming Mayor has said development charges can pay for the change
in strategy. Intensification was already a controversial part of the
Transit City costing estimates. Suburban neighbourhoods are on record
as being opposed to doubling the as-of-right heights on streets with
proposed LRTs. If jumping from 3 stories to 6 stories is currently
unacceptable, what will these communities say when 40 storey towers
are proposed along subway routes? To pay for the increased costs for
subway lines through development charges, hundreds of buildings in
this scale would need to be built. Putting aside whether the residents
in these areas could stomach this kind of intensification, can the
market absorb this kind of massive infusion of new units along
suburban thoroughfares? Setting Priorities & Planning Then there is the issue of which line to build first. Do we extend
Sheppard? Do we replace the Scarborough LRT? Is it the Finch Loop?
After that decision is made, there is the cost and time involved in
designing a new line, re-structuring a vehicle purchase to add subways
and then the timelines for acquiring property, realigning underground
infrastructure, switching the tunnelling contracts and building the
one or two extra stations to meet the goals of subway first and
subways only as a priority. None of this includes the legal fees
attached to changing the plans. Collateral Costs Surface transportation also offers other opportunities. Once you build
a subway, adding additional stops is virtually impossible. History
also shows that while surface rapid transit stretches out
intensification and distributes economic benefits along routes,
subways tend to generate nodal developments with little impact between
stations. Additionally, the new LRTs ordered for Transit City are not
a good fit for our existing downtown streetcar lines. We may well end
up with massive inner city streetcars that propel service cuts to
operate. Subways also need to be fed. In the suburbs massive bus bays will need
to be constructed to deliver passengers to the subway. Local density
is not enough. This too will cost money or underperforming lines will
drive up costs or force service cuts elsewhere. In other words after billions of new dollars, years of delay and
construction and hundreds of other impacts what we end up with is a
slightly more convenient subway line for a very few people and the
status quo if we are lucky for the rest. Respect for Taxpayers? All of this has been decided without a public debate or comprehensive
analysis of the impact of a decision made by one person, alone in an
office at City Hall. This is not only no way to run a rail road, it’s
no way to run a city. Some of the leadership of City Hall may have changed, but the values,
needs and expectations of Toronto residents have not. I am heartened
by your willingness to speak up for the kind of City you want to build
with us here at City Hall. We need to work together to ensure that
residents across our City understand the importance of delivering
Transit City and that they join with us in this fight. Please encourage your networks to send letters and make calls to the
Mayor, Executive Committee members, TTC Commissioners and Councillors. In the meantime I will fight to save Transit City, as a councillor, as
a citizen and as a Toronto transit rider. Sincerely, av
Councillor Adam Vaughan
Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina
416-392-4044
Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West
2nd Floor, Suite C50
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
—————————————————- Original Message »>
12/3/2010 10:38 PM »> Dear Toronto Councillors and Toronto MPPs: As a Torontonian, TTC user, and cyclist, I am alarmed that Mayor Rob
Ford wants to put an end to the Transit City Light Rail plan and start
up the subway gravy train after his first day in office. Residents of Toronto desperately need accessible transit to get around
our city. Facts prove that Light Rail vehicles - not subways - are the
best technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Streetcars and
LRVs have the lowest energy consumption per passenger mile of any mode
of transportation. Replacing carbon-emitting buses with LRVs will also
reduce emissions, leading to cleaner air to breathe and reduced
healthcare costs. Facts also show that subways cost far more and take much longer to
build, thereby depriving Torontonians in priority neighbourhoods of
faster access to better public transit and rapidly depleting our city
budget. LRV expansion under the extensively researched Transit City plan will
boost Toronto’s economic productivity by easing congestion, which will
prevent people and goods from being stuck in traffic. Building subways
will mean this reduction in congestion will be severely limited in
scope, compared with the Light Rail expansion planned under Transit
City. At the end of the day, cancelling Transit City is an attack on
priority neighbourhoods, the environment and the public purse. I
strongly urge you, as city councillors representing our best
interests, to bring this matter up for a vote in city council on Dec
16th. I also urge MPPs who represent Toronto to be advocates for accessible
public transit and keep the Transit City plan on track. Mayor Ford declared that the war on cars is over, yet ironically the
cancellation of Transit City will wage war on public transit users,
particularly those who do not live near a subway or who cannot afford
a car. Sincerely, Quinn DuPont
Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Subject: Re: Transit City is fiscally responsible and socially important Dear Quinn, I have always supported Transit City and continue to believe that it
is the best opportunity to provide a mass transit network to the City
of Toronto. It is not simply the best we can do under the
circumstances; it’s the right thing to do period. As a municipal project, much more than just transportation needs are
addressed by Transit City. The programme delivers train service to
virtually every corner of the city while providing opportunities for
economic, social and cultural renewal to some of Toronto’s most
distressed neighbourhoods. Transit City provides cheap, efficient and environmentally sound
transportation to the city’s priority neighbourhoods. These are
communities that are struggling under the weight of poor housing,
social isolation and diminished economic opportunity. Transit City
delivers connectivity and affluence to these areas. With the
introduction of Transit City, land values go up and create platforms
for revitalization of the housing stock which will bring jobs and
economic opportunity to the commercial properties in the area. New tax
revenue flows from this investment. City-owned lands increase in value
and public investments in local social infrastructure like schools,
libraries, community health centres and recreation centres suddenly
become more sustainable. The innovative Tower Renewal Project relies on land values being
inflated by proximity to transit. Open fields and abandoned industrial
land, like the properties around the Woodbine racetrack, are brought
to market with an investment and service like Transit City. Other city
projects like the revitalization of the Yonge-Eglinton bus bays also
benefit by becoming major transit nodes. Without the additional lines
that Transit City provides, these projects will fail to deliver the
economic and social benefits first predicted. The city will be left
poorer as a result. Cancelling Transit City will also cost the city hundreds of millions
of dollars in penalties and unneeded studies and Environmental
Assessments. Additionally, despite the expenditures the city is left
with the status quo. The status quo is a woefully deficient
transportation system. According to the Board of Trade gridlock is
currently costing Toronto’s economy billions in lost productivity. Replacing the transit part of the city’s approach to fighting gridlock
from Light Rapid Transit (LRT) to subways will cost billions more and
actually deliver less service, or at best, the same amount of transit
capacity. The only thing that changes is the length of a bus ride and
the station you arrive at. Financing The incoming Mayor has said development charges can pay for the change
in strategy. Intensification was already a controversial part of the
Transit City costing estimates. Suburban neighbourhoods are on record
as being opposed to doubling the as-of-right heights on streets with
proposed LRTs. If jumping from 3 stories to 6 stories is currently
unacceptable, what will these communities say when 40 storey towers
are proposed along subway routes? To pay for the increased costs for
subway lines through development charges, hundreds of buildings in
this scale would need to be built. Putting aside whether the residents
in these areas could stomach this kind of intensification, can the
market absorb this kind of massive infusion of new units along
suburban thoroughfares? Setting Priorities & Planning Then there is the issue of which line to build first. Do we extend
Sheppard? Do we replace the Scarborough LRT? Is it the Finch Loop?
After that decision is made, there is the cost and time involved in
designing a new line, re-structuring a vehicle purchase to add subways
and then the timelines for acquiring property, realigning underground
infrastructure, switching the tunnelling contracts and building the
one or two extra stations to meet the goals of subway first and
subways only as a priority. None of this includes the legal fees
attached to changing the plans. Collateral Costs Surface transportation also offers other opportunities. Once you build
a subway, adding additional stops is virtually impossible. History
also shows that while surface rapid transit stretches out
intensification and distributes economic benefits along routes,
subways tend to generate nodal developments with little impact between
stations. Additionally, the new LRTs ordered for Transit City are not
a good fit for our existing downtown streetcar lines. We may well end
up with massive inner city streetcars that propel service cuts to
operate. Subways also need to be fed. In the suburbs massive bus bays will need
to be constructed to deliver passengers to the subway. Local density
is not enough. This too will cost money or underperforming lines will
drive up costs or force service cuts elsewhere. In other words after billions of new dollars, years of delay and
construction and hundreds of other impacts what we end up with is a
slightly more convenient subway line for a very few people and the
status quo if we are lucky for the rest. Respect for Taxpayers? All of this has been decided without a public debate or comprehensive
analysis of the impact of a decision made by one person, alone in an
office at City Hall. This is not only no way to run a rail road, it’s
no way to run a city. Some of the leadership of City Hall may have changed, but the values,
needs and expectations of Toronto residents have not. I am heartened
by your willingness to speak up for the kind of City you want to build
with us here at City Hall. We need to work together to ensure that
residents across our City understand the importance of delivering
Transit City and that they join with us in this fight. Please encourage your networks to send letters and make calls to the
Mayor, Executive Committee members, TTC Commissioners and Councillors. In the meantime I will fight to save Transit City, as a councillor, as
a citizen and as a Toronto transit rider. Sincerely, av
Councillor Adam Vaughan
Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina
416-392-4044
Toronto City Hall
100 Queen Street West
2nd Floor, Suite C50
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
—————————————————- Original Message »>
12/3/2010 10:38 PM »> Dear Toronto Councillors and Toronto MPPs: As a Torontonian, TTC user, and cyclist, I am alarmed that Mayor Rob
Ford wants to put an end to the Transit City Light Rail plan and start
up the subway gravy train after his first day in office. Residents of Toronto desperately need accessible transit to get around
our city. Facts prove that Light Rail vehicles - not subways - are the
best technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Streetcars and
LRVs have the lowest energy consumption per passenger mile of any mode
of transportation. Replacing carbon-emitting buses with LRVs will also
reduce emissions, leading to cleaner air to breathe and reduced
healthcare costs. Facts also show that subways cost far more and take much longer to
build, thereby depriving Torontonians in priority neighbourhoods of
faster access to better public transit and rapidly depleting our city
budget. LRV expansion under the extensively researched Transit City plan will
boost Toronto’s economic productivity by easing congestion, which will
prevent people and goods from being stuck in traffic. Building subways
will mean this reduction in congestion will be severely limited in
scope, compared with the Light Rail expansion planned under Transit
City. At the end of the day, cancelling Transit City is an attack on
priority neighbourhoods, the environment and the public purse. I
strongly urge you, as city councillors representing our best
interests, to bring this matter up for a vote in city council on Dec
16th. I also urge MPPs who represent Toronto to be advocates for accessible
public transit and keep the Transit City plan on track. Mayor Ford declared that the war on cars is over, yet ironically the
cancellation of Transit City will wage war on public transit users,
particularly those who do not live near a subway or who cannot afford
a car. Sincerely, Quinn DuPont
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Implications of instant version control and literary work
I’m about to embark on a reading course on the implications/theory/use of the Git version control theory, and this article (and self-referential example) is a good description of many of the literary aspects of versioned work and life. There are other aspects of versioning (and duplication) that still need to be explored, such as web caching (Varnish, Squid), CDNs, Google (now Apache) Wave, and digital doppelgängers. All of which I’ll be exploring over the next year.
 12/26, 2:39 PM | TheLitDetective says: Atlantic blogger on etherpad: nifty slider control shows evolving text & edits (h/t @LooknBackward). http://bit.ly/g2GkRd |
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