Christine Wen

I'm beginning to think visual programming isn't a good bridge from GUI to code, if ModelBuilder is any indication - it's not very flexible and introduces more clicking/dragging/panning frictions.. (so next time, it should just be GUI -> Python window -> Notebooks)

this semester, I decided to contain part of a co-taught methods class that's mostly stats and some gis within R/cmdr (app used by previous prof) with Markdown, and the other class that's mostly gis and some stats within ArcGIS/py with Notebook (+ optional QGIS for mac users). will see how it works.

don't know if others also find passive 4k ambient videos in the background unsatisfying - try switching to 4k full gameplay without commentary for more immersive atmosphere: Infra/Obenseuer, Elden Ring/Dark Souls, Soma/Deadspace, and games too scary or intense to play myself have worked great..

/noclip We make crowdfunded video game documentaries for everyone to enjoy. Our mission is to tell authentic stories about video games, the people who make them, and those who play them. Our work is funded by...

this channel does great documentaries about video games that include interviews with their creators: www.youtube.com/@NoclipDocs

wrapped up this course with a pro forma exercise and a little bit on Indigenous fiscal frameworks. next time (hopefully), I might cover fewer topics - or consolidate better - and leave more time for cases and discussions. big stuff is all the same - devil is all in the details and specifics.

after the institutional frameworks and legal powers of (mainly Ontario) cities, we had a distinguished guest speaker from IMFG on provincial-local relations. all that's left is the methods (feasibility etc.) and indigenous planning X local government finance. time flew.

how many millennials spent their 20s acquiring nerdy/rustic things and then their 30s getting rid of them and going minimalist... having extracted essence from objects, creative works, institutions, etc. and internalized lessons from experiences - new generations will just skip over all this..

sleep problems suck but vivid intense dreams are kind of a blessing, like having lived more than in actuality; sometimes, months or years passed - wars fought and won, buildings torn down and re-raised, places flooded and songs written, etc. of course symbolic/simulated but also not nothing

students are leaving for fieldtrips. and I'll be reflecting on the class so far. after reading week and fall break will be land value capture and economic development, before moving on to institutional and legal stuff.

5 Architectural Secrets of the Badjao: 21st Century Sea People Thousands of years ago, a small civilization of hunter gatherers migrated to the coastal regions of Southeast Asia. T...

"successful design can be born from fragility, instead of stability" (though I suppose one could argue that predictability == adaptability) www.archdaily.com/638523/5-arc...

this week we talked about municipal revenues - didn't expect that tax caps/limits, given their very limited use in Canada, would generate such lively discussions. moving on to budget, delivery, and financing next..

teaching municipal finance to 4th year urban planning students: this week (after 'market + city basics' and before 'tax/fee/grant incidence - efficiency, fairness, accountability'): scale, location, choice, power. aka urban economics. should be a fun one.

lol the fiscal ship: fiscalship.org?ignore-brows...

I've never been much of a note-taker - but this software is changing that..

mbncanada.ca/publications...

:o - I'm just discovering the late Dr. A. Chegut's work, like the MIT Tech Tracker for Real Estate which is also really cool: techtracker.mit.edu

Worldbuilding Stack Exchange Q&A for writers/artists using science, geography and culture to construct imaginary worlds and settings

worldbuilding.stackexchange.com the most random collection of hypotheticals for brainstorm sparks

good overview: socialworklicensemap.com/social-work-...

YouTube video by Wanderloots Obsidian For Beginners 📝 Non-Linear Note Taking, Plugins & Templates

this is an excellent tutorial video for #Obsidian, a personal knowledge management software - which I think everyone, definitely researchers, should adopt to better track insight development and isolate unique values/wisdom: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Bk...

the Lincoln Institute's (totally free) course "foundations of local government finance in the U.S." really is quite good. I like how it doesn't skip over why these things exist in the first place; the supplemental resources are helpful too: lincolninst.catalog.instructure.com/browse/credi...

this looks great: mapcraft.io "MapCraft makes it easy to simulate the impact of different policy options or changing market conditions. With just a few clicks, users create new scenarios to test how widespread changes or geographically targeted measures would impact outcomes."

fun math games with proofs: adam.math.hhu.de

Quantum AI Urbanism: Redefining the Future of Artificial Intelligence in Cities The increasing complexity of urban environments necessitates computational advancements beyond the capabilities of classical systems. Traditional computing frameworks, grounded in a Newtonian world...

keep an eye on this: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

www.datakind.org

Cooljugator - Verb Conjugator Conjugate thousands of verbs in over 40 languages with forms and examples on Cooljugator

it's nice - and not limited to verbs: cooljugator.com

it's time: distrowatch.com/table.php?di... will share when fully "riced"

www.pdf24.org/en/ for those looking for a pdf alternative to Acrobat Reader

100 ways Trump hurt workers in his first 100 days The frenetically chaotic first 100 days of the Trump/Musk (DOGE) administration have been an onslaught of actions to dismantle the federal government and eliminate crucial services and benefits for wo...

www.epi.org/publication/...

you play as a young boy looking for a hidden room in a house that changes according to your drafts-each room having its own set of attributes and special effects (my favorite so far is the rompus room). Q: how many people have beaten this game, and what's the average number of in-game days it took?

nothing is everything.