Anarchitect http://www.anarchitect.org/log sitting around in the sun in your underwear playing the clarinet - while keeping a log on anarchitecturism. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:53:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1.2 en Living in Calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/09/20/living-in-calgary/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/09/20/living-in-calgary/#comments Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:52:42 +0000 anarchitect english urbanlife calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/09/20/living-in-calgary/
The duck has posted some photos of our apartment on Flickr in a panomara style. We really like it there sitting in the Poäng, having a nice view and living in the center of Calgary.

]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/09/20/living-in-calgary/feed/ Complaining about Calgary Transit http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/09/13/complaining-about-calgary-transit/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/09/13/complaining-about-calgary-transit/#comments Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:48:53 +0000 anarchitect english mobility urbanlife calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/09/13/complaining-about-calgary-transit/ Please, excuse if this blog comes down to a place of personal ranting, however, dear readership, as an auto-therapeutic practice preventing further harm or damage i need to share my frustration about the website of Calgary’s transportation company with you. I have written it all up as a customer feedback email, that i actually sent them.

Dear web team of Calgary Transit,

I value very much the existence of public transport, even when there may be some service irregularities, and I think Calgary Transit is a valuable part of the city’s life. However the CT website has very fundamental shortcomings. In fact, looking up connections and bus schedules on the CT website is an extraordinarily frustrating experience. Being forced to enter bus stops or road names in a specific way and even when entered correctly being told that there are technical difficulties is just not acceptable. Furthermore the site is very slow and it is not possible to bookmark certain connections or bus stops. There are many other things I could mention, but I am certainly not the first one to complain. I just don’t understand how Calgary Transit - the transport company of such an economically thriving city - gets by with this kind of service. What are the plans? When will this problem be solved? Would you consider putting the route data on Google Transit? I would really appreciate any clarifying answers on this. Thank you.

]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/09/13/complaining-about-calgary-transit/feed/ The special role of urban planning http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/03/13/the-special-role-of-urban-planning/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/03/13/the-special-role-of-urban-planning/#comments Fri, 14 Mar 2008 04:29:45 +0000 anarchitect english urbanlife environment architecture calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/03/13/the-special-role-of-urban-planning/ Today it occurred to me (again) that urban planning and city lifestyle weaves itself like a red thread through many contemporary issues. In the previously mentioned CBC radio programme it was discussed that among other factors, the location where one lives in the city and the fact whether certain services and shops are within walkable (or public transport) distance seem to have quite an impact on one’s health and happiness. Tonight the editor and founder of WorldChanging Alex Steffen gave an inspiring and motivating talk about interesting ideas for how to address global warming and the general disconnect between humankind and earth. Check out his TED talk on similar things. He talked about all kinds of ideas, products and services that make a contribution by contributing less waste or emissions and by using up less resources. Great examples are sharing of cars, tools, and even handbags. When asked what he considers the three major innovations, he responded with a list of interventions and named urban planning as the first one. While i am not sure whether it is interesting what some urban planners are doing, i certainly think that what they should be doing is worth taking a closer look.

]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2008/03/13/the-special-role-of-urban-planning/feed/ Oh what fun it is to bike… http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/11/14/oh-what-fun-it-is-to-bike%e2%80%a6/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/11/14/oh-what-fun-it-is-to-bike%e2%80%a6/#comments Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:11:53 +0000 anarchitect english mobility calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/11/14/oh-what-fun-it-is-to-bike%e2%80%a6/ D’Arcy Norman writes about his bicycling experience in Calgary. Interesting observation among others that i’d like to second:

The likelihood of a vehicle displaying a yellow “support our troops” sticker/ribbon seems to be directly proportional to the size of the vehicle. I haven’t seen one on a Prius.

This is also a good occasion to point out that there is a monthly Critical Mass ride in Calgary every last Friday 5:30 pm at Eau Claire Plaza. I have attended the last one and met quite a few friendly people – on bikes.

]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/11/14/oh-what-fun-it-is-to-bike%e2%80%a6/feed/ University of Calgary in the morning in 360° http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/25/university-of-calgary-campus-in-the-morning-in-360%c2%b0/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/25/university-of-calgary-campus-in-the-morning-in-360%c2%b0/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:46:42 +0000 anarchitect education calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/25/university-of-calgary-campus-in-the-morning-in-360%c2%b0/


]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/25/university-of-calgary-campus-in-the-morning-in-360%c2%b0/feed/ Schneller Wetterwechsel in Calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/24/schneller-wetterwechsel-in-calgary/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/24/schneller-wetterwechsel-in-calgary/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:55:56 +0000 anarchitect deutsch calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/24/schneller-wetterwechsel-in-calgary/

Heute tagsüber war es noch sonnige 22° C und jetzt kurz nach Mitternacht schneit es und die Temperatur liegt um den Gefrierpunkt. Das ist allerdings nicht nur dem Temperaturunterschied zwischen Tag und Nacht geschuldet. Heute gab es nämlich Föhn zum Mittag direkt von den Rocky Mountains. Die Calgarianer nennen das dann Chinook.

]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/24/schneller-wetterwechsel-in-calgary/feed/ Mapping Calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/17/mapping-calgary/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/17/mapping-calgary/#comments Thu, 18 Oct 2007 01:12:29 +0000 anarchitect english technology mobility selfrule urbanlife calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/17/mapping-calgary/ Calgary on OpenStreetMap

Now that i have velocipede and shared flat in Calgary – where i am now until spring – i started biking around with my GPS logger on. When i arrive at the university i upload the tracks to OpenStreetMap, add the missing streets and bike tracks. The latter seem to be kind of under-represented probably due to the marginal role of bicycles in Calgary’s commute. So if you have a bike and plan on getting involved with GPS consider contributing to this great open data project, too.

]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/10/17/mapping-calgary/feed/ Calgary and Banff http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/05/03/calgary-and-banff/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/05/03/calgary-and-banff/#comments Thu, 03 May 2007 21:50:22 +0000 anarchitect travels english education calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/05/03/calgary-and-banff/ I’m about to be on my way to Banff and Calgary to attend the World Wide Web conference and to transmit birthday wishes to the duck. On the Atomique blog you can read why i am quite happy to be able to attend this conference.

]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/05/03/calgary-and-banff/feed/ Jens sieht Calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/04/20/auch-jens-sieht-menschen/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/04/20/auch-jens-sieht-menschen/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:15:54 +0000 anarchitect deutsch beauty calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/04/20/auch-jens-sieht-menschen/ Sozusagen Kamrans partner in crime in Sachen Fotographie, macht Jens sehr ästhetische Fotos und veröffentlicht sie auch sowohl auf Blipfoto als auch auf Flickr. Jetzt ist er für ein halbes Jahr nach Calgary für ein Praktikum im iLab gegangen und kann das nachholen, was ich letztens ein wenig vernachlässigt habe: schicke Fotos machen.

]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/04/20/auch-jens-sieht-menschen/feed/ Alternatives in Calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/04/13/alternatives-in-calgary/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/04/13/alternatives-in-calgary/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:58:54 +0000 anarchitect english selfrule urbanlife calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/04/13/alternatives-in-calgary/ I am back in Magdeburg and i still want to mention some political, social, and cultural alternatives that can be found in Calgary that is situated in Alberta a rather conservative province of Canada. As i don’t find the time (read: patience in sunny spring) of dedicating proper reviews, just a quick list:

]]> http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/04/13/alternatives-in-calgary/feed/ How to know what’s happening in the city http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/03/14/how-to-know-whats-happening-in-the-city/ http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/03/14/how-to-know-whats-happening-in-the-city/#comments Tue, 13 Mar 2007 22:48:32 +0000 anarchitect travels english urbanlife calgary http://www.anarchitect.org/log/2007/03/14/how-to-know-whats-happening-in-the-city/ I am already three weeks here in Calgary with the Ente and we have been to a concert in an alternative music pub, an independent short film festival, a ralley promoting Canada’s commitment to Kyoto, a self-organized cafe and book store … There are several ways to get to know what is happening in the city. This is a quick run down of a few approaches towards pastime fulfillment, which can be applied to any city.

Peers

At first, there are your immediate contemporaries in the contexts where you’re living and working. In our case, this constitutes the friendly iLab and Ente’s flatmates. This way you usually also have a crowd of potential people accompanying you to a place/event.

Local press/media

Then you can consult local news papers covering cultural events. Here in Calgary the most authoritative ones are FFW (standing for fast forward, be aware bad website) and BeatRoute. Furthermore there are those poster walls in special areas (e.g. Kensington and 17th Avenue) advertising concerts, theater plays, movie screenings and much more.

The interwebs

And of course you can also consult the Internet near you. There are several Web sites covering regular meetings (Meetup) and all sorts of events (Upcoming, Eventful). All these sites offer an RSS feed and an iCal link to subscribe future events either using a feed reader or a calendar application. Of course, the ideal way would be a decentralized* approach. Here comes the microformat hCalendar into play, which can than be accessed by a search engine (of your choice some day).

Got any other options, dear reader? Please add them as a comment.

* Did i mention that decentralization really rocks? Well, i think i did.

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