Friday, May 25, 2012

Leaving London tomorrow

I am leaving London tomorrow. I have really enjoyed this experience of "living' in this great city for one month! I'll try to post a few photos and make more comments about this in the near future.

In the meantime, I'm making a short trip to Greece before going back to Brazil. I'll see what I can do for their economy.

Image: London Subterranea by Stephen Walter via PD Smith

I would like to thank Daniel da Mata and his lovely wife Fabiana for their hospitality in Cambridge.

Soundtrack: Home

Saturday, May 19, 2012

3 weeks in London

I have been now for almost three weeks in London. Here is what I have learned so far.

  • Everybody is always in a hurry, especially in the metro stations (poor elderly people).
  • The underground system (aka "Tube") is really impressive although it could be better...
  • Every time you ride an escalator here in London, people who are just standing/riding stay to the right side to ensure a clear lane for others. Its' the same in Tokyo and other civilized overcrowded cities. 
  • There's no such thing as a “queue” though.
  • It's all pretty much well organized and signalized (I have taken the wrong train only once.. ok, twice).
  • Here is an excellent travel time map of the Tube 

  • The street markets are great, and the main streets are overcrowded.
  • I already have my tickets to this presentation!
  • One could spend hours and hours listing good and bad things about this amazing metropolis. I prefer to go to sleep. Tomorrow I'll make a visit to Cambridge.
By the way, here is the New Simplified Map of London.



Thursday, May 17, 2012

Converging Subway Networks

A new paper comparing several subway networks around the world in large cities using various graph theoretic network measures (ht Leo).

So far I have only had time to read some comments on Wired but there is pdf copy availabe here.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Urban Picture

‘Street Life in London’, 1877, by John Thomson and Adolphe Smith.

Covent Garden Labourers

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Viva la Revolución (Industrial !)

Hans Rosling (aka the “Mick Jagger” of TED) in another great presentation. It's worth 9 minutes of your life.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Scaling The Universe

A great interactive infographic by NASA showing the the Scale of the Universe.

It reminds me this 1977 short film called 'Powers of Ten'. It is also really good. But of course, this video is still the greatest!