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Tweet-A-Watt

Tweet-A-Watt, measuring energy usage in real-time and uploading it to Twitter

Made from a hacked Kill A Watt, a device used to measure energy usage from a power outlet, Ladyada made this real-time Twittering energy monitor. The Tweet-A-Watt can be made for around $50, and would be used in each room—your office’s power bar would have one connected to it, your living room, bedroom, etc. Check out the Twitter feed, as it reports on the energy used around every 8 hours.

A great idea, and all the better that it came out of working with existing products to make them more functional. As with many visualization and data reporting techniques though, I find there’s a bit of a gap between seeing the numbers (for example, 134.0 Watts, 4133 Wh in last 24hr, 5510 Wh previous day), and understanding what the numbers mean. Is 4133 Wh in the last 24 hours good or bad? However, at least being able to track and begin to understand the relationship between your activities and energy usage is a step in the right direction.

[via Inhabitat]

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Graffiti Using GPS

Invisible Bombing, GRL Tokyo

This project, executed by GRL Tokyo, took me a while to figure out. Basically this image, which reads “The Invisible is Eternal,” was made by riding a bike with a GPS device attached to it, then uploading the resulting kml file to Google Maps. It’s pretty insane to see this that this was done on a bike, though aside from that, I’m not sure about it (and the 19 minute video of the condensed bike ride doesn’t help either).

Maybe something is lost in the translation, but I think conceptually, this would have been better as a map made as a kind of algorithm to move the rider over some greater distances than he normally would, then documenting the experience of that process. Of course, in terms of how it was actually executed, that description is probably pretty close, but the reason behind doing it is different (writing / bombing without actually making a mark vs psychogeographic interests), and ultimately kind of dull.

I thought it was worth noting, given some of the Google Earth related projects we’re working on.

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Office Hours

Broken City Lab Office Hours

Broken City Lab office hours are back on for Tuesday, February 24th, at 7pm, LeBel, room 125. There will be lots of things on the table, as we get closer to our upcoming show. If anyone has anything they want on the agenda, feel free to add it in the comments!

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Caesars Windsor Sign Install

The “heroic” time-lapse video of the installation of that retina-burning Caesars Windsor sign that now pwns Windsor’s skyline. It’s also the first Windsor (the city, not the knot) result that comes up when searching YouTube for Windsor. I’m surprised we didn’t see this earlier.

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Reading List

some books on my bookshelf

Thinking about a good collaborative weekend project, the idea of starting a reading list came up. I have a fair collection of books and blogs in my reader that touch on a number of things that seem pertinent to Broken City Lab, but I wondered what’s out there that I’m missing. 

I’ll make a quick list of some of the best things I’ve read lately that deal with social practice, activism, cities, and art, but if you have anything that you think other people (like us) should be reading, or watching, or listening to,  post it in the comments (preferably with a link to where we might be able to find it). 

Here’s my list of good things I’ve recently read:

It’s a short, and likely too narrow list, so let me know what I’m missing out on in the comments!

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Talk 20 – Pecha Kucha Windsor

Talk 20, Windsor

“Talk20 is not a lecture but a gathering, an open forum for the dissemination of ideas in art, architecture and design.  Produced in cities around the world talk20 has emerged as a live catalogue of contemporary creative production that seeks to instigate a conversation within and without the design community.”

Last night’s Talk 20, put on by Jodi Green was absolutely fantastic.  I don’t think I’ve ever left an event feeling so inspired, motivated and informed.  There was an overwhelming turnout.  Artcite was so jam packed that people had to grab some chairs from Phog Lounge and carry them through the cold, down University.  But even with the added seating, there they still didn’t have enough chairs for everyone.  People were lined up against the wall, standing around the back, crouched down at the front, all trying to squeeze into a little room to hear the presenters give their 7 minute presentation.

More photos, some details on the presentations, and the video of the Broken City Lab presentation after the jump.

Continue reading “Talk 20 – Pecha Kucha Windsor”

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Available Online For Free

Evan Roth's stickers

To coincide with the upcoming opening of his show in Vienna, Evan Roth (of GRL & FAT Labs fame), had these stickers made up to read, “AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE,” and placed them on a number of products that are, as you imagine, likely available online for free.

The sticker design is available for free as well, in eps format, to send off to a sticker-printer of your choice.

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Brainstorming Community Gardens

Community Garden mockup for the Sandwich community in Windsor, Ontario

Darren, Josh, and I met with some folks from the Sandwich Community Health Centre and Maya from FedUp to start discussing community gardens. The meeting went well, serving as a good starting point to start figuring out what we might be able to do in Sandwich. The SCHC is working on a site on Prince Road, so trying to get something at the riverfront shouldn’t overlap with their efforts.

After the meeting we did a site visit to start brainstorming, taking some photos and making some notes. Josh and I did some sketches and really rough mockups to try to start imaging some potentials for the garden. We liked the idea of circular planters, similar to the Victory Gardens, I’ve posted on previously, so that’s what you’re seeing in the aerial photo above, with the  planters being those 12 small dots near the windmill. Though, the planters would probably vary in size, and in general would  be larger than what’s mocked-up above. 

Ideally, a garden that we initiate can act as a pilot project for the rest of the city. There’s a long way to go with this project, but I wanted to make this first post to mark the start.

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Windsor Archives

a map of Windsor

I went to the Windsor Archives at the downtown Windsor Public Library with Lee Rodney’s Border Culture class on Thursday. The city’s archives are uninsured and sit in the basement, in the same room as the water main for the building, with some record books, maps, and architectural drawings un-boxed and unprotected, though most looked to be in acid-free (though certainly not water-proof) boxes.

The map above was one of the many articles from the archive we got to see, and I think it dates to sometime in the 1950s. Interestingly, there are these areas marked as abandoned, and it made me think back to our beginnings at a Google map that marked out, among many things, some of the abandoned properties (in particular, the abandoned big-box stores).

I’m curious as to why these areas were ever marked as abandoned, though unfortunately I didn’t note what kind of map this was. If anyone has any guesses, let me know.

So, the Windsor Archives are a really interesting place if you’ve never been, and the archivist that we met with seemed very eager to help with researching. With over 10,000 photos alone, on top of thousands upon thousands of other documents, I think it’s worth exploring further.

They also accept contributions.