Andy Oakley

Over the last few months there’s been a notable rise in the amount of graffiti in Seattle. It’s a shame for a city that was once almost entirely free of the affliction but I’ve not lost hope. For a while, it seemed like it could be just a neighborhood-specific thing; perhaps some kids getting to the right age to be making trouble. But looking around it seems as though it’s a city-wide problem (supported by the city’s cleanup numbers, up 44% year on year). That brings the local-effect conclusion into question.

To their credit, the city has done an impressive job of cleaning up within a few days. The behavior continues but it’s far better than letting it run unchecked.

Reluctantly jumping onto the bearish bandwagon, I do wonder how much of this can be attributed to a flagging economy. A can of spray paint costs less than a movie ticket, a couple of lattes or an album on iTunes and I wonder whether it’s a cheaper form of entertainment, thrill included. On the upside, if this is the case, it likely ends at some point - either with the city cleanup fund outlasting the taggers assets, or with an economic recovery to more comfortable times.

Perhaps the most unexpected tags I’ve seen are the ‘Obama 08′ messages on mailboxes and underpasses. All I can say is those responsible had better be voting in November.

It’s hard to know exactly what transpired during the altercation at the Critical Mass event this weekend, accounts seems to vary depending on who is talking. I did enjoy reading the driver’s point of view however:

While a some cyclists I’ve spoken with have written Mark off as another indignant road-hog, Mark says he actually used to be a bike commuter when he lived in Seattle a few years ago. “I sympathize with [cyclists’] cause. I ride bikes too. I’m a liberal hippie democrat,” he says, adding “I’m gay, the person with me was a lesbian and we were a attacked by eco-terrorists. It’s the most Seattle thing that could have happened.

Not mine, but some stunning photos from in and around the Olympic venues in Beijing.

The haze looks to be significantly reduced from when Amy and I were there in June but is still apparent in some of the photos. Hopefully it only gets better in the next couple of weeks before the games start.

(From the ever-fabulous Big Picture blog on boston.com)

There was an article in the Sunday paper yesterday titled Food cops: Italy’s palates guard. Who knew that there was such a business to be made from fake cheese, ham, basil and vinegar?

The food detectives, empowered to not only enter premises on demand but are also allowed to carry firearms(!) and have ways of detecting such counterfeit products. Special machines are used to generate slight flaws in the logo on the rind and sniff-tests involved a needle made from a horse’s shin bone can root out imposters.

Fascinating.

I’ve posted some pictures from my recent trip to the Singapore photos set on Flickr.

I was reading an article on the flight back and it reminded me of one of my favorite quotations:

“When asked in the 1950s about the future of McDonald’s Ray Kroc answered ‘I don’t know what we will be selling in the year 2000, but it sure will be a (heck) of a lot more than anyone else.’”

http://www.thebusinessledger.com/Home/Archives/CommentaryViewpoints/tabid/86/newsid415/31/CEO-Skinner-Likes-McDonalds-Lead-Dog-Role/Default.aspx

I love this attitude.

A simple P+S camera configured to take pictures every minute and a weather balloon give rise to some impressive results. This is an experiment I would love to try some day.

http://www.sbszoo.com/bear/sable/sable3.htm

It’s 7am on a Saturday morning and I’m wide awake as my body clock is still 15 hours ahead as I’ve spent the last week attending SIGIR 2008 in Singapore.

The conference itself was interesting. Lots of papers to review, ideas, discussion and other activity. We crammed a lot of material into just five days but it was well worth the trip. The planned schedule was fairly tight (early mornings, full days and a day-full of e-mail still generated from Redmond overnight) but a group of us still managed to make room for some evening excursions.

Sunday night: Conference reception at the hotel followed by late drinks at Clarke Quay, a row of ex-pat-attracting bars along the waterfront.

Monday evening: A trip to the Singapore Zoo and its excellent night safari. I’m often skeptical of such ideas but this is really well done. No fences in sight, everything is separated by ditches and water but you feel quite close to the animals.

Tuesday evening: Conference banquet at the Rasa Sentosa Hotel, Siloso Beach which happens to be a small island off the small island of Singapore. Buffet dinner on the beach watching the huge cargo ships passing by.

Wednesday evening: Guided by one of our coworkers who grew up in Singapore, we went to Little India, the overwhelming Mustafa Center, outdoor dining at Gluttons Bay and a late walk to the Merlion.

Thursday night: Orchard Road mall-hopping followed by an all-you-can-eat buffet at the Straits Kitchen in the Hyatt (excellent!).

All in all, a good trip. I am, however, very glad to be back in Seattle, free from the ceaseless humidity.

I swear I’m sitting directly opposite this guy. And he is not looking impressed. Traveling for 20 hours, I guess he’s wishing those teleportation experiments had worked out a bit better.

At every conference I’ve attended during my professional career, one fixture has been ever present: the cluster of people — usually sitting on the floor in a hallway — tethered to a short supply of wall outlet charging their laptops.

One can only help this scene will soon become a quaint relic of history.