Comments for jackthurston.com http://jackthurston.com notes and articles by Jack Thurston Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:09:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 Comment on Kraftwerk and the Ultimate Man-Machine by 10 January 2005: Kraftwerk and Cycling | the bike show http://jackthurston.com/articles/kraftwerk-and-the-ultimate-man-machine/#comment-1510 10 January 2005: Kraftwerk and Cycling | the bike show Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:25:00 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/kraftwerk-and-the-ultimate-man-machine/#comment-1510 [...] Jack Thurston’s feature on Kraftwerk and cycling first published in Rouleur magazine.    10 January 2005: [...] [...] Jack Thurston’s feature on Kraftwerk and cycling first published in Rouleur magazine.    10 January 2005: [...]

]]> Comment on Splash! by Aleppo http://jackthurston.com/splash/2008/05/14/#comment-1210 Aleppo Fri, 16 May 2008 09:37:03 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/splash/2008/05/14/#comment-1210 I trust you've read 'Waterlog' by Roger Deakin? I trust you’ve read ‘Waterlog’ by Roger Deakin?

]]> Comment on The man who put the vice into Vice President by Deb Bailey http://jackthurston.com/the-man-who-put-the-vice-into-vice-president/2008/05/15/#comment-1209 Deb Bailey Fri, 16 May 2008 02:01:28 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/listening-to-the-man-who-put-the-vice-into-vice-president/2008/05/15/#comment-1209 Robert Kennedy's measured, heartfelt concern and thoughts about how to heal the soul of this country are in stark contrast to the arrogant name-calling, and dismissive attitude of Spiro Agnew. Kennedy had vision. Agnew sarcasm. Kennedy sought healing through discourse, Agnew sought to squelch it. Kennedy offered hope, Agnew cynicism. Kennedy listened. Agnew derided. When you listen to Kennedy, you felt there was a way out. When you listen to Agnew...you just feel depressed. Robert Kennedy’s measured, heartfelt concern and thoughts about how to heal the soul of this country are in stark contrast to the arrogant name-calling, and dismissive attitude of Spiro Agnew. Kennedy had vision. Agnew sarcasm. Kennedy sought healing through discourse, Agnew sought to squelch it. Kennedy offered hope, Agnew cynicism. Kennedy listened. Agnew derided.

When you listen to Kennedy, you felt there was a way out. When you listen to Agnew…you just feel depressed.

]]> Comment on London’s Mayoral elections: maxmising my voice by strategic use of preference voting by Jon Worth http://jackthurston.com/london-elections-strategy/2008/04/18/#comment-1193 Jon Worth Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:15:13 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/london-elections-using-your-second-preference/2008/04/18/#comment-1193 OK, good... :-) I've never been involved with the technicalities of an AV election, only STV elections, and there you have a variety of weights for the re-distributions (although they don't do that in Ireland). This explains it: http://pl.atyp.us/misc/votefaq.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Single Transferable Vote (STV) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a system for electing multiple candidates in a constituency. Each voter marks '1' against the candidate they most like, '2' against their next favourite, and so on until they have no preference for the remaining candidates. The highest preferences for each candidate are counted. If any candidate has more votes than the Quota, they are elected. The Quota is calculated as: Quota = int(V/(N 1)) 1 where: V = number of votes N = number of candidates to be elected int() = convert to integer, rounding down The rationale for this formula is that the quota is the smallest number of votes such that the candidate is certain to be within the top N candidates. If someone is above the quota, the additional votes above the quota are reallocated to the other candidates according to the voters' lower preferences. This is done by giving each vote of the candidate a fractional value according to the fraction that the candidate was above the quota. (In Ireland they use the simpler, but less precise, system of simply picking a bunch of the candidate's ballot papers at random and using those for reallocation.) If no-one is above the quota, the candidate with the smallest number of votes is eliminated, and their votes are reallocated to other candidates. When votes are reallocated, if the voter has expressed no further lower preferences, their vote is discarded. This procedure is continued until all N candidates are elected. OK, good… :-)
I’ve never been involved with the technicalities of an AV election, only STV elections, and there you have a variety of weights for the re-distributions (although they don’t do that in Ireland).

This explains it:
http://pl.atyp.us/misc/votefaq.txt

———————————————————————-
Single Transferable Vote (STV)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a system for electing multiple candidates in a constituency.
Each voter marks ‘1′ against the candidate they most like, ‘2′ against
their next favourite, and so on until they have no preference for the
remaining candidates.

The highest preferences for each candidate are counted. If any
candidate has more votes than the Quota, they are elected. The Quota
is calculated as:
Quota = int(V/(N 1)) 1

where:
V = number of votes
N = number of candidates to be elected
int() = convert to integer, rounding down

The rationale for this formula is that the quota is the smallest
number of votes such that the candidate is certain to be within
the top N candidates.

If someone is above the quota, the additional votes above the quota
are reallocated to the other candidates according to the voters’
lower preferences. This is done by giving each vote of the candidate
a fractional value according to the fraction that the candidate was
above the quota.

(In Ireland they use the simpler, but less precise, system of simply
picking a bunch of the candidate’s ballot papers at random and using
those for reallocation.)

If no-one is above the quota, the candidate with the smallest number
of votes is eliminated, and their votes are reallocated to other
candidates.

When votes are reallocated, if the voter has expressed no further
lower preferences, their vote is discarded.

This procedure is continued until all N candidates are elected.

]]> Comment on London’s Mayoral elections: maxmising my voice by strategic use of preference voting by Jack Thurston http://jackthurston.com/london-elections-strategy/2008/04/18/#comment-1188 Jack Thurston Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:46:13 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/london-elections-using-your-second-preference/2008/04/18/#comment-1188 Yes, in the second round there is no difference in weight between a first preference vote and a redistributed second preference vote. Fractional transfer is pretty rare, certainly for mass elections. I believe it is used more for elections with a rather smaller electorate (say a University board or such like). Yes, in the second round there is no difference in weight between a first preference vote and a redistributed second preference vote.

Fractional transfer is pretty rare, certainly for mass elections. I believe it is used more for elections with a rather smaller electorate (say a University board or such like).

]]> Comment on London’s Mayoral elections: maxmising my voice by strategic use of preference voting by Jon Worth http://jackthurston.com/london-elections-strategy/2008/04/18/#comment-1187 Jon Worth Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:24:25 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/london-elections-using-your-second-preference/2008/04/18/#comment-1187 Is the redistribution the transfer of a complete vote? You don't transfer fractions as in some STV systems? Is the redistribution the transfer of a complete vote? You don’t transfer fractions as in some STV systems?

]]> Comment on In search of London’s drinking fountains (and cattle troughs) by IanVisits… » A drinking fountain on Holborn Viaduct http://jackthurston.com/in-search-of-londons-drinking-fountains-and-cattle-troughs/2007/08/31/#comment-1015 IanVisits… » A drinking fountain on Holborn Viaduct Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:58:33 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/in-search-of-londons-drinking-fountains-and-cattle-troughs/2007/08/31/#comment-1015 [...] Drinking fountains on Google Maps [...] [...] Drinking fountains on Google Maps [...]

]]> Comment on A gentleman or a player? by Freesteel » Blog Archive » undemocracy.com goes on strike http://jackthurston.com/a-gentleman-or-a-player/2007/09/07/#comment-747 Freesteel » Blog Archive » undemocracy.com goes on strike Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:34:20 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/a-gentleman-or-a-player/2007/09/07/#comment-747 [...] minuscule sentence somewhere lost in a blog posting in [...] [...] minuscule sentence somewhere lost in a blog posting in [...]

]]> Comment on The Bike Show presents the British premier of Raes’s Symphony for Singing Bicycles by Retro Bicycles http://jackthurston.com/the-bike-show-presents-the-british-premier-of-raess-symphony-for-singing-bicycles/2007/07/03/#comment-663 Retro Bicycles Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:28:35 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/the-bike-show-presents-the-british-premier-of-raess-symphony-for-singing-bicycles/2007/07/03/#comment-663 Give me an old cool bicycle, and I'll ride around the city for days. Give me an old cool bicycle, and I’ll ride around the city for days.

]]> Comment on In search of London’s drinking fountains (and cattle troughs) by Jack Thurston http://jackthurston.com/in-search-of-londons-drinking-fountains-and-cattle-troughs/2007/08/31/#comment-469 Jack Thurston Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:36:39 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/in-search-of-londons-drinking-fountains-and-cattle-troughs/2007/08/31/#comment-469 yes, but there's no satellite image on openstreetmap, so it's much harder to pinpoint the cattle troughs precisely. though if I had a gps device I guess I could record them that way. yes, but there’s no satellite image on openstreetmap, so it’s much harder to pinpoint the cattle troughs precisely. though if I had a gps device I guess I could record them that way.

]]> Comment on In search of London’s drinking fountains (and cattle troughs) by Julian Todd http://jackthurston.com/in-search-of-londons-drinking-fountains-and-cattle-troughs/2007/08/31/#comment-464 Julian Todd Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:14:18 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/in-search-of-londons-drinking-fountains-and-cattle-troughs/2007/08/31/#comment-464 The real home for this kind of stuff is the open street map project. For example: http://openstreetmap.org/?mlat=51.499054&mlon=-0.199341&zoom=14 This is something which has really taken off. Your water fountains would get tagged under the following feature: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Proposed_features/Potable_Water The real home for this kind of stuff is the open street map project. For example:

http://openstreetmap.org/?mlat=51.499054&mlon=-0.199341&zoom=14

This is something which has really taken off. Your water fountains would get tagged under the following feature:

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Proposed_features/Potable_Water

]]> Comment on In search of London’s drinking fountains (and cattle troughs) by Tony Hine http://jackthurston.com/in-search-of-londons-drinking-fountains-and-cattle-troughs/2007/08/31/#comment-447 Tony Hine Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:48:35 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/in-search-of-londons-drinking-fountains-and-cattle-troughs/2007/08/31/#comment-447 >>>environmentally catastrophic bottled water >>>environmentally catastrophic bottled water

]]> Comment on The Bike Show presents the British premier of Raes’s Symphony for Singing Bicycles by Jez http://jackthurston.com/the-bike-show-presents-the-british-premier-of-raess-symphony-for-singing-bicycles/2007/07/03/#comment-419 Jez Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:09:05 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/the-bike-show-presents-the-british-premier-of-raess-symphony-for-singing-bicycles/2007/07/03/#comment-419 Hi Jack. Yes, the podcasts work fine all the way back to the London cycling at the beginning of December 2004. Blimey, you've turned me into a trainspotter of the bicycle world - even the sound of Brompton bike hinges being forged at the factory was somehow unexpectedly satisfying. My favourite music track from all the episodes is the Eek-a-Mouse one. Great track, genius name for a musician. Hi Jack. Yes, the podcasts work fine all the way back to the London cycling at the beginning of December 2004. Blimey, you’ve turned me into a trainspotter of the bicycle world - even the sound of Brompton bike hinges being forged at the factory was somehow unexpectedly satisfying. My favourite music track from all the episodes is the Eek-a-Mouse one. Great track, genius name for a musician.

]]> Comment on The Bike Show presents the British premier of Raes’s Symphony for Singing Bicycles by Jack Thurston http://jackthurston.com/the-bike-show-presents-the-british-premier-of-raess-symphony-for-singing-bicycles/2007/07/03/#comment-413 Jack Thurston Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:03:08 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/the-bike-show-presents-the-british-premier-of-raess-symphony-for-singing-bicycles/2007/07/03/#comment-413 Jez I'm glad you're enjoying the show. Just as a matter of interest, how far back are the downloads working on iTunes? The reason I ask is that the older shows are hosted on a less reliable server, and I'm not sure if they're working as well as the ones on archive.org. There should be around 75 episodes in total, going back to December 2004. The next season will start towards the end of the autumn, early winter. Jack Jez
I’m glad you’re enjoying the show. Just as a matter of interest, how far back are the downloads working on iTunes? The reason I ask is that the older shows are hosted on a less reliable server, and I’m not sure if they’re working as well as the ones on archive.org. There should be around 75 episodes in total, going back to December 2004.
The next season will start towards the end of the autumn, early winter.
Jack

]]> Comment on The Bike Show presents the British premier of Raes’s Symphony for Singing Bicycles by Jez http://jackthurston.com/the-bike-show-presents-the-british-premier-of-raess-symphony-for-singing-bicycles/2007/07/03/#comment-408 Jez Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:03:43 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/the-bike-show-presents-the-british-premier-of-raess-symphony-for-singing-bicycles/2007/07/03/#comment-408 I just discovered The Bike Show podcasts on iTunes. I downloaded the lot after becoming completely addicted and I've listened to them all. Now I've got cold turkey. I hope the show comes back soon - I'm telling all my fellow cyclists in London about it. Love the reggae choices too. There - that's the first fan letter I've written since I sent one to Derek Dougan of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC in 1974 (he never replied). I just discovered The Bike Show podcasts on iTunes. I downloaded the lot after becoming completely addicted and I’ve listened to them all. Now I’ve got cold turkey. I hope the show comes back soon - I’m telling all my fellow cyclists in London about it. Love the reggae choices too. There - that’s the first fan letter I’ve written since I sent one to Derek Dougan of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC in 1974 (he never replied).

]]> Comment on Food that makes you go Yuck! by Jack Thurston http://jackthurston.com/food-that-makes-you-go-yuck/2007/02/12/#comment-91 Jack Thurston Tue, 03 Apr 2007 13:09:33 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/food-that-makes-you-go-yuck/2007/02/12/#comment-91 Hi Gregor, Thanks for that - all very interesting stuff and we'd like to do it at farmsubsidy.org. We have done it for some countries as a trial (Sweden, Denmark), but most country governments have refused to give us any point data on where the recipient of the farm subsidy actually is. They usually give a region instead, which can often be rather large (England has 8 regions). So this data is not so amenable to mapping. Hi Gregor,
Thanks for that - all very interesting stuff and we’d like to do it at farmsubsidy.org. We have done it for some countries as a trial (Sweden, Denmark), but most country governments have refused to give us any point data on where the recipient of the farm subsidy actually is. They usually give a region instead, which can often be rather large (England has 8 regions). So this data is not so amenable to mapping.

]]> Comment on Food that makes you go Yuck! by Gregor J. Rothfuss http://jackthurston.com/food-that-makes-you-go-yuck/2007/02/12/#comment-88 Gregor J. Rothfuss Tue, 27 Mar 2007 03:14:36 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/food-that-makes-you-go-yuck/2007/02/12/#comment-88 trying to get in touch about farmsubsidy.org, your email bounces.. hi, you have a wonderful dataset, and i admire your work for transparency. have you considered overlaying it on a map? i suspect that the juxtaposition of where the money goes and whether that area is even rural will be highly interesting and drive your point home even more. the easiest to do this would be with google maps. i'd be happy to provide pointers if you are interested, but for now, consider these examples: http://gecensus.stanford.edu/gcensus/index.html http://www.healthcarethatworks.org/maps/nyc/ http://www.bethefullstop.com/map http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2006/03/us_government_p.html http://forwardtrack.eyebeamresearch.org/ there are many more at http://del.icio.us/tag/mapping advocacy best, -gregor trying to get in touch about farmsubsidy.org, your email bounces..

hi,

you have a wonderful dataset, and i admire your work for transparency. have you considered overlaying it on a map? i suspect that the juxtaposition of where the money goes and whether that area is even rural will be highly interesting and drive your point home even more.

the easiest to do this would be with google maps.

i’d be happy to provide pointers if you are interested, but for now, consider these examples:

http://gecensus.stanford.edu/gcensus/index.html
http://www.healthcarethatworks.org/maps/nyc/
http://www.bethefullstop.com/map
http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2006/03/us_government_p.html
http://forwardtrack.eyebeamresearch.org/

there are many more at http://del.icio.us/tag/mapping advocacy

best,

-gregor

]]> Comment on My last ever Powerpoint presentation by Cook http://jackthurston.com/my-last-ever-powerpoint-presentation/2007/01/04/#comment-5 Cook Thu, 04 Jan 2007 15:31:10 +0000 http://jackthurston.com/my-last-ever-powerpoint-presentation/2007/01/04/#comment-5 There's simply no comparison: Keynote is far superior to Powerpoint. But your talks have always been terrific, Jack;now they'll just get better. And yes, the trick is to have the slides illustrate, decorate, not dictate what you say. Our favorite example of how bad Powerpoints are the death of real communication is Peter Norvig's celebrated send up of the Gettysburg address: http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/ Enjoy. There’s simply no comparison: Keynote is far superior to Powerpoint. But your talks have always been terrific, Jack;now they’ll just get better.

And yes, the trick is to have the slides illustrate, decorate, not dictate what you say.

Our favorite example of how bad Powerpoints are the death of real communication is Peter Norvig’s celebrated send up of the Gettysburg address:

http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/

Enjoy.

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