Per The Fediverse Report:

Tumblr has reconfirmed that it is working on connecting to the fediverse. In late 2022, Automatic CEO Matt Mullenweg said that the site was going to add ActivityPub support ‘soon’. Plans changed for Tumblr, including staff layoffs, and for a long time it was unclear if this plan was actually going to happen. In summer 2024, Tumblr announced that they would be working on moving the backend of Tumblr to WordPress. In an AMA this week, the company said that this migration of Tumblr to WordPress means that Tumblr can also use the plugins of WordPress, including the ActivityPub plugin. This means that people will be able to add ActivityPub to their Tumblr blogs. Not much is known about how this would work in practice.

Let’s see. Not holding my breath.

How sponge cities can fix urban flooding (and save millions in costs)

✅ Making cities resilient to floods

About 44% of all disaster events around the world are flood-related.

In our new explainer episode, we show how ‘sponging’ cities can help them overcome the challenge of flooding while strengthening the local ecology, and boosting the economic and social well-being of residents.

In this episode, you will learn:

🟡 What a sponge city is (and how it works)

🟡 The benefits of ‘sponging’ cities (beyond flood-resilience)

🟡 Projects that demonstrate the principles and benefits of a sponge city at various scales (and what we can learn from them)

🟡 Why developers should be in favour of sponge city initiatives (they can save millions in costs)

And much more!

💚 If you gain value from this conversation, we hope you will subscribe to the channel 💚

Thank you to Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction for supporting season 5 of Ecogradia.

———————————————————————-

Timestamps

00:00 Intro
01:43 What is a sponge city?
02:08 Features of a sponge city
04:16 Is ‘sponging’ expensive?
04:44 Benefits of a sponge city
08:19 The man who pioneered sponge cities
09:01 Yanweizhou Park | Jinhua, China
09:46 Why Bangkok and Jakarta are sinking
10:39 Tebet Eco Park | Jakarta, Indonesia
11:36 Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park | Bangkok, Thailand
12:13 Copenhagen’s Cloudburst Management Plan
13:14 Sankt Kjelds Plads | Copenhagen, Denmark
14:06 How sponge cities can profit: Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park | Singapore
15:46 How sponge cities can profit: Portland | USA
16:21 Outro

———————————————————————-

This episode features the following projects:

Yanweizhou Park | Jinhua, China (2014)
Designed by Turenscape

Tebet Eco Park | Jakarta, Indonesia (2022)
Designed by SIURA Studio

Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park | Bangkok, Thailand (2017)
Designed by LANDPROCESS

Sankt Kjeld’s Square & Bryggervangen | Copenhagen, Denmark (2019)
Designed by SLA

Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park | Singapore (2012)
Designed by Henning Larsen

Also featuring:

Fish Tail Park | Nanchang, China (2022)
Designed by Turenscape

Benjakitti Park | Bangkok, Thailand (2022)
Designed by Turenscape + Arsomsilp Community and Environmental Architect

Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park | New York City, USA (2018)
Designed by SWA/Balsley + Weiss/Manfredi in collaboration with Arup

Houtan Park | Shanghai, China (2010)
Designed by Turenscape

High Plains Environmental Center | Loveland, USA
Designed by Hauser Architects

Thammasat Urban Rooftop Farm | Bangkok, Thailand (2019)
Designed by LANDPROCESS

Khoo Teck Puat Hospital | Singapore (2010)
Designed by CPG Consultants in collaboration with RMJM Architecture

Shangrao Xinjiang Ecological Park | Shangrao, China
Designed by Turenscape

Telok Blangah Hill Park | Singapore

Interlace Apartments | Singapore (2013)
Designed by OMA in collaboration with RSP

Jiangsu—Victoria Sponge City Innovation Park | Kunshan, China
Designed by CRC for Water Sensitive Cities

Quzhou Luming Park | Quzhou, China (2015)
Designed by Turenscape

OCT OH BAY Retail Park | Shenzhen, China (2021)
Designed by Laguarda.Low Architects

Tanghe ‘Red Ribbon’ Park | Qinhuangdao, China (2007)
Designed by Turenscape

Sanya Mangrove Park | Sanya, China (2019)
Designed by Turenscape

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#Ecogradia #Sustainability #Architecture #SpongeCity #FloodproofCity #ResilientCity #FloodProofCity #GreenSpace

[sustainability, architecture, sponge city, green spaces, floodproof city, resilient city]

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Could Elephants be the Next Intelligent Species?

This is a special video essay on the speculative evolution of sapient elephants and how they might replace us in the future. I switch between the words “intelligent”, “sentient”, and “sapient” a lot because it’s easy to understand what I’m talking about in the context of the video.

Patreon: https://ift.tt/4yICazV
Insta: https://ift.tt/x0KIWAp

Below are some of the articles I read on elephants, they are incredible beings, and we should try to save them. But more importantly here’s a link to my favorite foundation you can donate to help elephant conservation:

https://ift.tt/6JX9j8S

Elephant fact sources:
Rizzolo, J. B., & Bradshaw, G. A. Prevalence and Patterns of Complex PTSD in Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus). Asian Elephants in Culture and Nature, 291–297. 2016.

Bradshaw, G. A., Schore, A. N., Brown, J. L., Poole, J. H., & Moss, C. J. Elephant breakdown. Nature, 433(7028), 807-807. 2005.

African elephants address one another with individually specific calls Michael A. Pardo, Kurt Fristrup, David S. Lolchuragi, Joyce Poole, Petter Granli, Cynthia Moss, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, George Wittemyer

The elephant brain in numbers. Suzana Herculano-Houzel,Kamilla Avelino-de-Souza,Kleber Neves,Jairo Porfírio,Débora Messeder,Larissa Mattos Feijó, José Maldonado, and Paul R. Manger

Lee, P.C., Fishlock, V., Webber, C.E. and Moss, C.J. The Reproductive Advantages of a Long Life: Longevity and Senescence in Wild Female African Elephants. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70, 337-345. 2016.

Hunninck, L., Ringstad, I.H., Jackson, C.R., May, R., Fossøy, F., Uiseb, K., Killian, W., Palme, R. and Røskaft, E. (2017) Being Stressed Outside the Park—Conservation of African Elephants.

Remmers, W., Gameiro, J., Schaberl, I. and Clausnitzer, V. (2017) Elephant ( Loxodonta africana) Footprints as Habitat for Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities in Kibale National Park, South-West Uganda. African Journal of Ecology, 55, 342-351.

Asner, G.P., Vaughn, N., Smit, I.P. and Levick, S. Ecosystem-Scale Effects of Megafauna in African Savannas.Ecography 39, 240-252. 2016.

Where sociality and relatedness diverge: the genetic basis for hierarchical social organization in African elephants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. July 2009.

Acknowledging the Relevance of Elephant Sensory Perception to Human–Elephant Conflict Mitigation. Robbie Ball, Sarah L. Jacobson Matthew S. Rudolph Miranda Trapani, and Joshua M. Plotnik. 2022.

Plotnik J.M., Lair R., Suphachoksahakun W., De Waal F.B. Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk in a Cooperative Task. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2011.

Li L.-L., Plotnik J.M., Xia S.-W., Meaux E., Quan R.-C. Cooperating Elephants Mitigate Competition until the Stakes Get Too High. PLoS Biol. 2021.

Jacobson S.L., Plotnik J.M. The Importance of Sensory Perception in an Elephant’s Cognitive World. Comp. Cogn. Behav. Rev. 2020.

Campos-Arceiz A., Blake S. Megagardeners of the Forest–the Role of Elephants in Seed Dispersal. Acta Oecol. 2011.

Mortimer B., Walker J.A., Lolchuragi D.S., Reinwald M., Daballen D. Noise Matters: Elephants Show Risk-Avoidance Behaviour in Response to Human-Generated Seismic Cues. Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 2021.

Nevo O., Schmitt M.H., Ayasse M., Valenta K. Sweet Tooth: Elephants Detect Fruit Sugar Levels Based on Scent Alone. Ecol. Evol. 2020.

Large brains and cognition: where do elephants fit in? Benjamin L Hart et al. Neurosci Biobehav Rev.2008.

Wittemyer G., Douglas-Hamilton I., Getz W.M. The Socioecology of Elephants: Analysis of the Processes Creating Multitiered Social Structures. Anim. Behav. 2005.

Hedwig D., DeBellis M., Wrege P.H. Not so Far: Attenuation of Low-Frequency Vocalizations in a Rainforest Environment Suggests Limited Acoustic Mediation of Social Interaction in African Forest Elephants. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 2018.

Asner, G.P., Vaughn, N., Smit, I.P. and Levick, S. Ecosystem-Scale Effects of Megafauna in African Savannas. Ecography. 2016.

Tsalyuk, M., Kilian, W., Reineking, B. and Getz, W.M. Temporal Variation in Resource Selection of African Elephants Follows Long-Term Variability in Re-source Availability. Ecological Monographs. 2019.

Stommel, C., Hofer, H., Grobbel, M. and East, M.L. Large Mammals in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania, Dig for Water When Water Stops Flowing and Water Bacterial Load Increases. Mammalian Biology. 2016.

Kalumanga, E., Mpanduji, D.G. and Cousins, S.A. Geophagic Termite Mounds as One of the Resources for African Elephants in Ugalla Game Reserve, Western Tanzania. African Journal of Ecology. 2017.

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The Insane Scale of Tokyo’s Disaster Megaplan

Fred Mills uncovers Japan’s epic plan to disaster-proof Tokyo.
Tackle your toughest projects with confidence using InEight’s project controls software for capital construction – https://bit.ly/408huQh

Please Note: NIED is the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention

Full story here: https://ift.tt/oYDL304

Additional footage and images courtesy of NIED, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Resilience Project, Toho Studios Ltd., Mathieu Thouvenin, Nippon TV News, CGTN, NBC, NHK World, BBC News, ABC, Al Jazeera, India Today, No Comment TV, Bangkok Post, VOA News

Research sources:
https://ift.tt/9h5CY7D
https://ift.tt/G6SPLW8
https://ift.tt/4FD6x9c
https://ift.tt/dogb1nG
https://ift.tt/gvd2cPb
https://ift.tt/YAaXJtv
https://ift.tt/LaTDOy8
https://ift.tt/WlZrtCh
https://ift.tt/IxtPYBj
https://ift.tt/lTIO4c3
https://ift.tt/KIWZgYu
https://ift.tt/PBF6JQp
https://ift.tt/WSf9xQU
https://ift.tt/AvNIMno
https://ift.tt/DqAKd9O
https://ift.tt/r2VGiOC
https://ift.tt/lTIO4c3
https://ift.tt/df7awq8
https://ift.tt/knQV2hz
https://ift.tt/WF0z8GN

00:00 – Intro
03:34 – Tokyo in Danger
05:48 – The Tokyo Resilience Project
06:54 – Volcanoes
07:29 – Pandemics
07:58 – Blackouts
10:02 – MOWLAS
11:56 – Flooding
14:07 – G-Cans
15:45 – Tunnel Construction
17:01 – TBM Machine
19:40 – Flooding Infrastructure
21:26 – Earthquakes
23:20 – Giant Rock Friction Apparatus
26:33 – E-Defense
27:08 – Earthquake Engineering
28:54 – Seismic Countermeasures
30:47 – Earthquake Strategy
33:06 – Eitai Bridge
34:00 – Earthquake Proofing
35:01 – Attention to Detail
36:18 – Preparedness

For more by The B1M subscribe now – https://bit.ly/the-b1m

We’re raising awareness of construction’s mental health crisis through our Get Construction Talking initiative. There’s a video series on our channel and you can find support or donate at – https://ift.tt/Uv78Ow3

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© 2024 The B1M Limited

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EP 275 DONALD SHOUP: The Shoup Dogg Doctrine on the High Cost of Free Parking & Sidewalk Repairs

In this Season 9 Premiere of the Podcast, I reconnect with Professor Donald Shoup, author of The High Cost of Free Parking, affectionately known as “Shoup Dogg,” in honor of his rockstar status and birthplace of Long Beach, CA. We discuss the momentum of the parking reform movement to help create more affordable and walkable communities, as well as the huge challenge of LA’s sidewalks in disrepair and the opportunity to make a major transformation in walkability in Los Angeles before the 2028 Olympics.
Note: This episode was recorded in the waning days of 2024, but given the devastating fires currently raging in LA, my original “hometown,” my heart just breaks for everyone living through these challenging times.

Thank you so much for watching! If you enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs-up, leave a comment below, and share it with a friend. If you’d like more content like this, please Subscribe to the Active Towns Channel, and be sure to “Ring” that notification bell to select your notification preferences.

Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
– My first episode with the Shoup Dogg: https://ift.tt/5ZUOY7j
– Shoup’s website: https://ift.tt/PvEMC6l
– Parking Reform Network: https://ift.tt/fwJuCia
– Shoup books available in my bookshop: https://ift.tt/og4CB5q
– Torched Newsletter by Alissa Walker: https://www.torched.la/
– Adam Ruins Cars Parking Clip: https://youtu.be/skm6hp99-5A

If you are a fan of the Active Towns Channel, please consider supporting the effort as an Active Towns Ambassador in the following ways:
1. Join the Patreon community: https://ift.tt/xv4Q6YN
(Note: Patron benefits include early, ad-free access to content and a 15% discount in the Active Towns Merch Store)
2. If you enjoyed this video, you can also “leave a tip” by clicking on the Super Thanks button right here on YouTube or thru “Buy Me a Coffee” https://ift.tt/UKlZPoN
3. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store: https://bit.ly/ActiveTownsStore

Credits: Video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music via Epidemic Sound: https://bit.ly/3rFLErD

Resources used during the production of this video:
– My recording platform is Ecamm Live: https://bit.ly/3rwsUup
– Editing software Adobe Creative Cloud Suite: https://bit.ly/35DBDDU

For more information about the Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit our links below:
Website: https://ift.tt/5VOUgxm
Threads: https://ift.tt/1d9yeqn
Newsletter: https://bit.ly/SubscribeActiveTownsNewsletter

Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

Since 2010, I’ve been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a “Culture of Activity” for “All Ages & Abilities.”

The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2025

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Social Networking Without Purpose

At the very least, I can respect that LinkedIn is assigned a purpose for the social networking which it facilitates: doing business.

Everything within and about it is constructed for the purpose of companies and talents to communicate with each other. All brand pages are mandated to be just that: pages for companies. Group forums must exist for the purpose of networking among professionals and businesses. Profiles are designed as resumes. Very transparently corporate and capitalist.

What purpose do Facebook, Twitter, BlueSky, etc all serve?

They have none. These sites of the Big Tech variety are all expensive tech demos, playing at a pastiche of “community”. And look where that has taken their owners and users. Look where it has taken whole countries.

I no longer believe that a social networking site should exist without a purpose or target audience.

And now far-right types are winning the propaganda war and bending these purposeless social networking sites to the purpose of reverting every liberalizing political development of the last century.

Progressive, solidarity-oriented political types are on the backfoot because they found each other through these purposeless sites and did not expect/were not prepared for the possibility that their relationships or priorities would be threatened when oppositional powers gained the access to give these sites a contrary purpose.

Now these purposeless sites have given up on moderation, or have even reversed themselves entirely to satisfy the reactionary, authoritarian politics which have gained ascendancy since the 2010s.

Those who are disturbed by these developments are encouraging each other to dump Twitter for BlueSky, or even to give up on social networking altogether in favor of meatspace meetings.

Even after all of this, I’m not too keen on the idea of giving up on social networking entirely. But I am very keen on giving up on this social networking which has no theme, no purpose, no general focus.

I also want to give up on microblogging as a social networking exercise. The nearly two decades of attempts to create a distributed, decentralized, FOSS answer to Twitter or Facebook have not addressed the behavioral question at the heart of social microblogging: when does a microblog post or its authoring account cross the line from free expression into anti-social behavior, and how can it be successfully, sustainably moderated?

In April, it will have been 20 years since “microblog” or “tumblelog” were first identified as a format of blogging. The moderation of social microblogging has increasingly degraded with the number of features added to microblogging sites.

Lemmy is, at least in theory, a better application of the ActivityPub protocol than Mastodon/Misskey/etc. At the very least, Lemmy has some hierarchy to its moderation, in which the owners of the website can at least pretend to delegate discretion and moderation to topics of their own interest, while the microblogging apps like Mastodon struggle to scale moderation to every user.

Microblogging, on the other hand, should be returned to the generality of the blog, divorced from the industrialization of frictionless posting to a shared, common interface. Facebook and Twitter both integrating a common interface for posting and viewing posts, incapacitating the ability to design one’s own profile, was a massive progenitor of the downward social media spiral, one that, to an extent, Tumblr managed to avoid with its customizable blog profiles.

So:

  • Progressive-minded people should learn to love the blog again, in its own right.
  • progressives should also learn how to discuss in shared forums again, especially in distributed link aggregators like Lemmy
  • Blogging and discussion hosts should have a purpose and theme for their existence;
  • Wikipedia remains undefeated and unshittified.