02/20/2010
Columbia Convention Center

On Feb. 20, 2010 at 5:30 p.m., join us for Alameda Elementary School's annual auction: Alameda Graffiti. Held at the Columbia Convention Center, adjacent to the airport Holiday Inn, guests will roll back the clocks to a time of hot rods, cool cats, cute chicks and rock-and-roll.

Event will feature a silent auction, dinner, a live auction and dancing. Funds raised will secure funding for additional school staff and a new playground structure. Neighborhood businesses and residents can participate via sponsorship, donations or attendance!

Deadline for sponsorship is December 31, 2009.

Call Chris Wiegand at 503-284-7069 or visit www.alamedaschool.org/auction for more information.

Here’s the news that caught our eye this week:
- The ballooning recall of Toyota models with sticky accellerators has cast light on the reluctance with which the auto industry responds to safety issues.

- While many of our Portland readers were at City Hall to rally and attend the new bicycle plan hearing, the federal HUD secretary was a few blocks away at PSU announcing the opening of a new federal department with strong potential links to transportation issues, the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.

- On Streetsblog, a discussion of the “invisible” side of bicycling—that many people who ride don’t do so out of choice and aren’t in a position to access knowledge about cycling or to advocate for themselves. (The discussion is continued here.)

- Has anyone coined the term “carfreewashing” yet? A movement in the UK towards car-free developments (e.g., residential areas, usually low-income housing projects with no provided car parking), billed as a green initiative, are instead proving a troubling experiment in placing the burden of a failed transportation system on people who have the least choice about how to get around.

- The White House has placed itself on the walkable neighborhoods front lines by promoting the spread of neighborhood grocery stores and farmers markets.

- Fed Ex has pledged to invest half a million dollars in an effort to reduce auto congestion in Mexican cities.

- Pittsburgh is considering an ordinance that would require all new construction to include installation of bike parking staples on the sidewalk.

- In Los Angeles, activists are proposing a new freeway network—for bicycles only.

- A co-op apartment building in New York is experimenting with providing car sharing rather than building more parking spaces for its residents.

- A new Yale University building earned platinum LEED certification in part by installing showers and indoor parking facilities for bike commuters. But the facilities have been locked since the building opened, and the university has no plans to let students and faculty use them.

- “Distracted driving” is Webster’s 2009 word of the year.

- Video of the week—a guerrilla crosswalk in Brazil serves as a sobering memorial:

Outlaw Biology was a DIY biology symposium held January 29-30 at UCLA. Here’s a list of workshops that may or may not have occurred:

1. Bioweathermap, Jason Bobe. With field-trips to the UCLA Arboretum and Hammer Museum (in cooperation with Machine Project

2. Learn to Design a DNA-based nanostructure using cadnano software, Philip Lukeman

3. Paint colorful microbes – luminescent, fluorescent, and pigmented – on do-it-yourself solid media. With a little time and luck, we’ll preserve the painted results in epoxy, like microbiological paintings in amber, Mackenzie Cowell

4. SKDB: Learn to use software tools for open source manufacturing and bioengineering, Bryan Bishop and Ben Lipkowitz

5. Use of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strain ADP1 as a DIY bioengineering platform, David Metzgar

6. Ars Synthetica: Have an informed, ethical, and open dialogue on the emerging field of synthetic biology, Gaymon Bennett

7. Extract DNA from Strawberries, CSG Staff

8. Lactobacillus Plasmid Recovery and Visualization for fun and profit, Meredith L. Patterson

9. DIY Webcam Microscopy. Join us for a worldwide webcam hacking event and make your own 100x USB microscope for less than $10. We’ll provide the webcams and a live internet feed from other workshop locations across the world, from Bangalore to Australia. Find out more at diybio.org/ucam

10. Velolab, See the first Bicyclized Mobile Biology lab, Sam Starr

11. Learn about FBI Outreach: Promoting Responsible Research & Career Opportunities, Special Agent Edward You

12. Learn about LavaAmp: The Personal Thermal Cycler, Guido Núñez-Mujica and Joseph P. Jackson III

13. The HOX Gene Zodiac project. Learn about homeobox genes, body plans and the Chinese Zodiac, Victoria Vesna

Learn more at their web site.

(via Grinding)

Related posts:

1. Burma’s outlaw backpack doctors
2. Wanted: Home Computers to Join in Research on Artificial Life
3. Barefoot teenage outlaw has eluded police for nearly two years

Outlaw Biology was a DIY biology symposium held January 29-30 at UCLA. Here’s a list of workshops that may or may not have occurred:

1. Bioweathermap, Jason Bobe. With field-trips to the UCLA Arboretum and Hammer Museum (in cooperation with Machine Project

2. Learn to Design a DNA-based nanostructure using cadnano software, Philip Lukeman

3. Paint colorful microbes – luminescent, fluorescent, and pigmented – on do-it-yourself solid media. With a little time and luck, we’ll preserve the painted results in epoxy, like microbiological paintings in amber, Mackenzie Cowell

4. SKDB: Learn to use software tools for open source manufacturing and bioengineering, Bryan Bishop and Ben Lipkowitz

5. Use of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strain ADP1 as a DIY bioengineering platform, David Metzgar

6. Ars Synthetica: Have an informed, ethical, and open dialogue on the emerging field of synthetic biology, Gaymon Bennett

7. Extract DNA from Strawberries, CSG Staff

8. Lactobacillus Plasmid Recovery and Visualization for fun and profit, Meredith L. Patterson

9. DIY Webcam Microscopy. Join us for a worldwide webcam hacking event and make your own 100x USB microscope for less than $10. We’ll provide the webcams and a live internet feed from other workshop locations across the world, from Bangalore to Australia. Find out more at diybio.org/ucam

10. Velolab, See the first Bicyclized Mobile Biology lab, Sam Starr

11. Learn about FBI Outreach: Promoting Responsible Research & Career Opportunities, Special Agent Edward You

12. Learn about LavaAmp: The Personal Thermal Cycler, Guido Núñez-Mujica and Joseph P. Jackson III

13. The HOX Gene Zodiac project. Learn about homeobox genes, body plans and the Chinese Zodiac, Victoria Vesna

Learn more at their web site.

(via Grinding)

Related posts:

1. Burma’s outlaw backpack doctors
2. Wanted: Home Computers to Join in Research on Artificial Life
3. Barefoot teenage outlaw has eluded police for nearly two years

Me: You’ve said your advice for entrepreneurs is to avoid venture capital. Can you explain that a bit?

Matt: I have so many friends in the technology industry who are so obsessed with getting funded. And they’re confusing that with getting paid and it being money. People see it as free money, and it’s not. A lot of people obsessed with venture capital see Metafilter as a lifestyle business, but in my mind, it’s a mature business. It works really well and yet nobody aspires to do something like this and I don’t know why. Nobody celebrates just simple businesses that work.

Don’t take any money, don’t owe anything to anyone, build [your business] how you want instead of constantly being on that treadmill of growth growth growth.

Sood: Conversation with Metafilter Founder Matt Haughey

(via Tomorrow Museum)

Related posts:

1. Has Matt Taibbi failed journalism, or has journalism failed Matt Taibbi?
2. Chris Anderson Is Worse Than Wal-Mart
3. How Could 9,000 Business Reporters Blow It?

Me: You’ve said your advice for entrepreneurs is to avoid venture capital. Can you explain that a bit?

Matt: I have so many friends in the technology industry who are so obsessed with getting funded. And they’re confusing that with getting paid and it being money. People see it as free money, and it’s not. A lot of people obsessed with venture capital see Metafilter as a lifestyle business, but in my mind, it’s a mature business. It works really well and yet nobody aspires to do something like this and I don’t know why. Nobody celebrates just simple businesses that work.

Don’t take any money, don’t owe anything to anyone, build [your business] how you want instead of constantly being on that treadmill of growth growth growth.

Sood: Conversation with Metafilter Founder Matt Haughey

(via Tomorrow Museum)

Related posts:

1. Has Matt Taibbi failed journalism, or has journalism failed Matt Taibbi?
2. Chris Anderson Is Worse Than Wal-Mart
3. How Could 9,000 Business Reporters Blow It?

Ordinance changes bother keepers of bees, chickens

By Diana Nelson Jones
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
February 08, 2010

Proposed changes to the city ordinance dealing with the keeping of agricultural animals on city properties has agitated bee and chicken keepers.

Burgh Bees, a 375-member nonprofit, has put out a “call to action” via e-mail for attendance at a public hearing before the city planning commission at 2 p.m. Feb. 16 “to show how many beekeepers and beekeeper supporters there are” in the city. The hearing is at 200 Ross St., Downtown.

Legal wording currently is confusing and leaves room for abuse of privilege, city officials have said. But bee and chicken raisers say the proposed changes could create unintended ill-effects.

The hearing is the public’s chance to offer input, said Joanna Doven, spokeswoman for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

“We support urban farms and groups like Burgh Bees,” she said, “but we have to make sure we are balancing their interests with the safety needs and concerns of other residents.

“There has been a disconnect between what is and isn’t allowed, so we need an ordinance that clearly outlines how we should proceed.”

Under current law, residents must get a variance to raise chickens on properties of less than 5 acres or if their lots don’t allow 200 feet between the coop and a property line, but it’s vague as to whether a five-animal limit means pets are included. In addition, enforcement is driven by complaints.

A proposed 15-foot setback from any property line and 2,500-square-foot minimum per hive would in effect ban beekeeping in many of the city’s dense neighborhoods, “where our members have been safely keeping bees for years,” said Meredith Grelli, founder and director of Burgh Bees.

Furthermore, she said, people’s efforts to comply with the 15-foot setback, especially in dense areas, could lead to bad beekeeping.

See the rest of the article here.

Burgh Bees website here.

Above: screenshot of the PDF form subversives are required to fill out.

The headline says “no joke” but I’m not convinced this is real:

Terrorists who want to overthrow the United States government must now register with South Carolina’s Secretary of State and declare their intentions — or face a $25,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.

The state’s “Subversive Activities Registration Act,” passed last year and now officially on the books, states that “every member of a subversive organization, or an organization subject to foreign control, every foreign agent and every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States … shall register with the Secretary of State.”

There’s even a $5 filing fee.

Raw Story: No joke: South Carolina now requires ’subversives’ to register

(via The Agitator)

Link to a PDF of the form at FitsNews (never heard of ‘em)

Backup copy here at Technoccult.

Related posts:

1. North Carolina constitution prohibits atheist city council member from holding office
2. South Koreans experience what it’s like to die — and live again
3. South Korea also crowd sourcing intelligence – via game

Above: screenshot of the PDF form subversives are required to fill out.

The headline says “no joke” but I’m not convinced this is real:

Terrorists who want to overthrow the United States government must now register with South Carolina’s Secretary of State and declare their intentions — or face a $25,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison.

The state’s “Subversive Activities Registration Act,” passed last year and now officially on the books, states that “every member of a subversive organization, or an organization subject to foreign control, every foreign agent and every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the government of the United States … shall register with the Secretary of State.”

There’s even a $5 filing fee.

Raw Story: No joke: South Carolina now requires ’subversives’ to register

(via The Agitator)

Link to a PDF of the form at FitsNews (never heard of ‘em)

Backup copy here at Technoccult.

Related posts:

1. North Carolina constitution prohibits atheist city council member from holding office
2. South Koreans experience what it’s like to die — and live again
3. South Korea also crowd sourcing intelligence – via game

What’s in the Customer’s Mailstream?:

Infographic for “Deliver” magazine.
Illustration by Jude Buffum
Art direction by Grayson Cardinell

Last week, the New York International Gift Fair arrived at the Javits Center with, as usual, a handful of terrific new products. Here's a quick look at a few of my personal favorites.

The Brooklyn-based distributor neo-utility was showing this elegant stainless-steel pen by Düller and the German designer Dietrich Lubs, of Braun fame. It's available as a ballpoint pen, a fountain pen, and a mechanical pencil.

(more...)

Carnage awaits at the Chariot Wars event.
(Photo © J. Maus)

This year’s Mini Bike Winter is shaping up to be one of the best ever.

The event — which tries to capture the fun and creative culture of Portland’s beloved Zoobomb community — features parties, competitions, and this year, even a panel discussion.

Mini Bike Winter kicks off on Thursday night (2/11) with a panel discussion titled, “Should Bikes Save the Planet?” Panelists include: Author of Efficiency Shifting, Conrad Schmidt; Bicycle Pornographer Reverend Phil Sano; President of Umbrella and Director of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, Stephanie Routh; owner of Portland Pedicabs Ryan Hashagen; and PSU Professor of Sociology, Erin Rose Michaels.

Circus Freaks Party flyer.

According to panel organizer Phil Sano, the goal of the discussion will be to “Increase the bicycle community’s understanding on “if” not “how” we should save the planet.” There will also be movie screenings, including a visual recap of Mini Bike Winter 2009 by photographer John Huey. Should be a stimulating evening.

On Friday night, the Mini Bike Winter action continues with a Scavenger Hunt, a Midnight Mystery Ride, and more. Then on Saturday, the real games begin with the Ben Hurt Chariot Wars (always a favorite).

Saturday night is the big Circus Freaks Party, hosted by the all-ladies tall bike gang The Irondelles. The party will feature live performances by bike-dance crews The Sprockettes and their San Francisco-based sister club, The Derailleurs. There will also be live music by Chervona and many other fun surprises.

Sunday’s schedule includes the Mini Bike Winter Olympics and a night time downhill skate race (bring a light!). Get all the details and info at Zoobomb.net/minibikewinter.

Hear From Our Founder from AeroFarms on Vimeo.

Meet Ed Harwood, Founder & CEO of Aero Farm Systems

Aerofarms – The future of urban agriculture

From their website:

AeroFarms provides aeroponic technology and comprehensive business expertise to those pioneering the future of urban agriculture. The world’s current food system is unsustainable economically, environmentally and socially. Today’s rural and centralized food production uses a vast amount of resources—land, water, transportation fuel— which will become increasingly scarce and expensive as world populations grow and continue to urbanize. At the same time these resources diminish, demand for food will increase, requiring current food production levels to double by 2050 to support the world’s population. We need a better way.

AeroFarms believes that we can transform our food system to be more sustainable, efficient, and secure. We envision a system of decentralized, urban farms that produce fresher and safer food at the point of consumption. While this movement has started gaining traction, in order to make great change, we need to expand beyond community and rooftop gardens into commercial growing. We have dedicated ourselves to developing the technology to realize this vision.

In the days and weeks to come, we’ll be blogging about a wide range of topics, from sustainable agriculture to innovative salad recipes. We believe in the open exchange of ideas and welcome any questions or suggestions. Please join us in pioneering the future of urban agriculture!

See AeroFarms raises $500,000 from venture capital investors.

See Aerofarms website here.

It's getting more and more common to see the words "Except Bicycles" on traffic signs around Portland:





And these are turning up in a few places as well - hopefully we'll see more of them!

Aesthetics, Methods, and Critiques of Information Visualization in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (((oh come on who can’t like that)))

May 20 - May 22, 2010 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Organized by HyperStudio – Digital Humanities at MIT

How do visual representations of complex data help humanities scholars ask new questions? How does visual rhetoric shape the way we relate to documents and artifacts? And, can we recompose the field of digital humanities to integrate more dynamic analytical methods into humanities research?

HyperStudio’s Visual Interpretations conference will bring digital practitioners and humanities scholars together with experts in art and design to consider the past, present, and future of visual epistemology in digital humanities. The goal is to get beyond the notion that information exists independently of visual presentation, and to rethink visualization as an integrated analytical method in humanities scholarship.

By fostering dialogue and critical engagement, this conference aims to explore new ways to design data and metadata structures so that their visual embodiments function as “humanities tools in digital environments.” (Johanna Drucker)

We welcome submissions from practitioners and theorists of digital humanities as well as such connected disciplines as art, design, visual culture, museum studies, and computer science.

Possible topics include (((oh boy))):

Expressive and artistic dimensions of visualizations
Subjectivity and objectivity in information visualization
Dynamic/multidimensional visualizations and user collaboration
Social media and contextualized visualization
Cultural history of visual epistemology
Limits and affordances of the translation from data to visualization
2D and 3D visualizations of historical/social/political data
Visualization across media and the archive
Digital visual literacy & accessibility
Relationships between database and interface
Alternative modes of data representation.

Submissions:

We are inviting submissions for the following conference formats:
Papers with 15minutes of presentation and short discussions (12 slots)
Short presentations, so called “6/4s” with 6 minutes of presentation and 4 minutes of discussion (18 slots available)
Mini-Workshops, 30 minutes each (6 slots)
Demos and Posters (30 slots)
Click here to submit your 250 word abstract along with relevant links via the submission form (link).

Deadline for submissions: March 31, 2010

via @generatorx

*This is the first BEYOND THE BEYOND comment that I have ever transformed into a post.

*You probably don’t read any of the blog comments around here — I know I sure don’t, because all comments here are all ruthlessly pre-edited by “Bruno,” a 14-year-old Italian cyberpunk kid from Milano who volunteered to edit the spam on a WIRED blog for no pay (when not reading Neural and Digicult).

*But this stuff is pretty good.

*I would be quite keen to see a debate on parametric architecture and/or generative architecture on the ol’ blog here. I look kindly upon such things and there’s a lot to discuss. Laymen should probably start by reading Lars Spuybroek’s “Architecture of Continuity.” Lars is the cat’s parametric pyjamas.

*To refresh your memory, the commentary is about this video: “Voxopolis,” a 3D city engine based on Conway’s Game of Life and developed in Processing by: Jeannette Kuo, Dino Rossi & Dominik Zausinger.

*The authors remark:

Thanks Bruce for your support! and for seeing the playfulness of the project.

“We (the authors of Voxopolis) would like to respond to joshharle’s comments as we do think that it is an important conversation for designers to have.

“While we may not even disagree with josh completely, we think it is necessary to see this projects within the context of their creation. These were short exercises for people that had never programmed before. Furthermore, they are abstract experiments not so much to be taken literally as to be gleaned for potential catalysts to deeper research. We were therefore delighted when it became somewhat viral online.

“That aside, we do have an opinion about computational design and we are far from enamored wide-eyed followers. In fact, we recently wrote a paper reflecting precisely on the shortcomings and potentials of such technology. For us, it holds potential as a tool that augments decision-making processes in design. In a future, more advanced version, the parametric controls would allow for iterative testing on simulated time and therefore allow designers to test ideas before implementation. This means they can begin to integrate performance requirements for ecological, social, infrastructural as well as formal aspects of design without risking the mistakes of wholesale urban impositions as we have seen in the 1960s and more recently in the instant cities of China.

For us, parametric tools are not recipes for automatic cities nor do they absolve architects from dealing with all the exigencies that they normally face. The parameters are just a framework, a set of variables that still need to be defined and still have to be given form. Computation is a powerful tool, but only when understood properly. And we would say that applies to both those who unquestioningly use it as well as to those who categorically dismiss it.

We do not try to make excuses for what we do but we also think that categorical dismissals often close doors on opportunities and innovations that may be discovered in more open engagements. However we do appreciate critiques and opinions and we definitely appreciate these platforms for open discussion. We invite others to check out the ETH CAAD department website for a better understanding of the intentions, goals and positions that are taken there. http://www.caad.arch.ethz.ch/
Also, “Beyond the Grid” is a recent publication that documents the last 8 years of research at the CAAD chair, and which will also expose a bit more where we stand.

*The original post, “Generating Cities:”

http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2010/02/generating-cities/

One of my favorite quotes by Bjarke Ingels:

"Engineering without engines. We should use contemporary technology and computation capacity to make our buildings independent of machinery. Building services today are essentially mechanical compensations for the fact that buildings are bad for what they are designed for—human life. Therefore we pump air around, illuminate dark spaces with electric lights, and heat and cool the spaces in order to make them livable. The result is boring boxes with big energy bills. If we moved the qualities out of the machine room and back into architecture’s inherent attributes, we’d make more interesting buildings and more sustainable cities."

These are all ideas very much at the core of green building, but there's a focus here that I think is important: that sustainable cities involve removing machines designed to do ecologically stupid things, and that new technology should reorient the city around the human body.

Fewer machines. Smart surroundings for people.

So much of the ecological destruction caused by contemporary prosperity is the by-product of crude, brute-force industrial solutions to fundamental urban problems (and magnified by the modernist glorification of those solutions).

Burning petroleum to drive pistons and turn wheels to move a big chunk of metal around the city is what you do when you haven't yet figured out how to make the normal needs of daily life readily findable and accessible: it's conquering space through BTUs, rather than data and design.

Building giant dams and piping rivers of water from those dams to distant cities, then piping away other rivers of polluted water to be treated in giant industrial vats with massive doses of chemicals before being dumped (semi-polluted) into the nearest river or ocean -- well, that's what you do when you are powerless to defeat bacteria with anything but brute force and petrochemicals. More complex, living systems (complete with rainwater harvesting, passive green infrastructure and graywater re-use) are already possible, and with lab-on-a-chip-level technologies, they can be made at least as safe as the 19th century water supplies most of us depend on now.

Hell, even manufacturing itself -- with its tsunamis of product directed at retail shelves -- is a brute-force, mechanized approach to providing the things we want. Much of what is manufactured is utterly transient in our lives: we use it, it breaks, we throw it out. Much of the stuff we buy is not used at all, or only a few times in a lifetime: its major purpose is to be stored as a symbol of wealth, safety or status (think outdoor gear, power tools, obscure kitchen devices). A lot of stuff is made, never touched, and thrown away (think of recent clothing store scandals). All of this stuff is industrial society's answer to the problems of household needs and human aspiration; all of it will look ridiculous in the very near future, when people aim to have access to stuff that they actually like and use, avoiding accumulating stuff that merely impoverishes them and clutters their homes (already "stuff" is acquiring negative connotations). We sit in environments designed to hold and display credit-leveraged objects, rather than promote the highest possible quality of life.

I could go on, but I think the point is made. Want to see the city of the future? Start looking for machines to replace.

(Image: Le Corbusier’s Ville Radieus, public domain)

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by Alex Steffen in Emerging Technologies at 12:27 PM)

[Perhaps determined to echo BLDGBLOG's call for a "J.G. Ballard of contemporary China" (or drive home Kongjian Wu's repeated declarations about the material wastefulness of much of the contemporary building program in China), the New York Times reports from the "empty shells" of Beijing's Olympic venues and features a slideshow of photographs by Susetta Bozzi; via @bruces]

*Getting scarier out in the digital favela. If the spooks don’t jump you, the crooks will.

*One wonders how much of this it will take before feudal-corporate gated communities start looking attractive again. “CompuServe II,” anyone?

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/02/all-that-use-all-that-user-generated-content-95-is-malware-spam-r-generated-content-95-of-is-malware-spam.ars

“The latest research from Websense Security Labs paints a dreary but familiar picture of the state of online security threats. Echoing the bad news of other such recent reports, it seems the vast majority of the Web consists of malware and spam. (((I’d like to see an information visualization of the web that displayed this.)))

“Worse yet, even legitimate, well-known sites are being used to pump malware, SEO poisoning, or phishing attacks. (((Should I urge you not to click the ads on the blog here? I kill off the blogging spam as soon as I see it.)))

“Websense uses a global network of systems to scan and analyze over 40 billion websites every hour, tracking malware and other unwanted content. The results for the latter half of 2009 show a 225 percent increase in malicious websites. (((They need the money.))) Worse, 71 percent of websites found to contain some malicious code were in fact legitimate websites that had been compromised in some way. (((Used to be a respectable, dignified political party, now reduced to a mere tea party.)))

“One way that hackers are infiltrating the Web is by “SEO poisoning,” or using SEO techniques to pump up the ranking of malicious websites in search results to make them appear legitimate. On average, 14 percent of top search results for a given “hot” topic on Google led to a malicious website.

“This method has proven fairly successful, since it can easily adapt to changing search trends and get around detection. Malicious websites looking to cash in on “Google Wave invites” can use botnets to artificially inflate search rankings. As soon as the sites are discovered and filtered from search results, botnets can be instructed to move on to the next hot topic, such as “MTV VMA awards” or “Brittany Murphy death.” (((All very “Storm Worm.” I wondered what had happened to those guys. Maybe the Chinese ate ‘em. How funny to be living in a heavily-surveilled, increasingly unfree world with vast unidentifiable criminal conspiracies.)))

“Still, hackers and spammers are increasingly going after legitimate websites, which already appear in top search results and often are considered “safe” or “trusted” by security filters. The top 100 most-visited websites represent the vast majority of Web traffic, and consist mainly of social networking and search sites. Malware is injected via “user-generated content,” such as news items, posted links, and comments. (((I keep telling people that comment systems are the devil’s work.)))

“Spotting a spam comment used to be quite easy, but separating the wheat from the chaff is becoming more and more difficult….”

“The plan calls for spending approximately $600 million to…”
— From a story published today by the Portland Tribune

The myth that the City of Portland’s Bicycle Plan for 2030 comes with a $600 million price tag continues to spread among various media outlets, despite the fact that the plan commits the city to no spending of any kind.

The Oregonian’s misleading front page article last week, (which their Editorial Board reinforced the next day) got the ball rolling.

The Oregonian article saying the plan had a “hefty price tag” was put out on the Associated Press newswire and is now being picked up and republished by media outlets all over the country. Even though the 2030 bike plan has zero financial impact on the City of Portland, The Oregonian story is being republished with misleading headlines.

The Christian Science Monitor warns readers; “Portland promotes urban cycling, but costs will be high.” The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce writes, “613M price tag for Portland bike plan.”

And today, the Portland Tribune gets into the act. The Tribune headline reads “Portland bike plan wobbles under funding questions,” and then goes on to say, “City only has fraction of the $600 million price tag for the ambitious proposal.” The story also characterizes Mayor Sam Adams as “scrambling to explain” how the City will pay for the plan.

Anyone who was at the City Council hearing for the bike plan last Thursday knows that the delayed vote isn’t because the plan “wobbles under funding questions.” It’s also incorrect and misleading to state that the plan has a $600 million “price tag.”

Not surprisingly, these stories are followed by angry commenters who are upset with Mayor Adams for proposing such a large expenditure on bikeways. The reality is, the plan is not an expenditure at all — although after reading the media coverage it’s easy to see why folks are getting confused.

Let’s take a look at the official Financial Impact Statement for the plan (every City Council measure must include one of them). It asks whether or not the measure being proposed (in this case the bike plan) comes with a financial obligation. Here are the salient excerpts from that document:

3) Revenue: Will this legislation generate or reduce current or future revenue coming to the City? If so, by how much? If new revenue is generated please identify the source. No.

4) Expense: What are the costs to the City as a result of this legislation? (If there is a project estimate, please identify the level of confidence): There is no fiscal impact from this resolution. (However, the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 does recommend projects that total more than $600M at a low level of confidence.)

I wish the bike plan vote on Thursday came with some funding commitments, but it doesn’t. It’s unfortunate that many people in Portland (and beyond) are getting the wrong idea, and even more unfortunate that they are being misled by sources they rely on to inform them about important issues.

Yes, building the bike network comes with a price tag, but let’s save that discussion for when there’s actually some money on the table.

Read more coverage of the 2030 Bicycle Plan here.