Cities are often thought of as the antithesis of wildlife. Yet, they occasionally mix like here at Pier 39 in San Francisco where sea lions where have been around for 20 years.
(My wife and I traveled to California for nine days in early July – this is part of a series of pictures from our trip.)
Yahoo reports on a controversy in India over an ad for Vaseline from Unilever. The campaign was based around having men lighten their Facebook profile pictures.
The ad campaign has drawn attention from around the world as people have both attacked and defended it. The issue is a long-running one in India as it is tied to the caste system and lighter skin people sitting at the top. Skin color has social consequences:
A 2009 poll by an online dating company of 12,000 participants living in Northern India found that they rate skin tone the most important factor in choosing a romantic partner. “Fair skin is generally associated with beauty, greater affluence and increased employability,” writes Riddhi Shah at Salon, who copped to using the creams herself even while criticizing the country’s racist ideas about beauty in her work.
It is interesting that this campaign is targeted toward men as the article suggests this is a recent development in the skin-whitening market in India.
Prior to traveling to California, my wife and I kept hearing good things about In-N-Out Burger, a California based fast-food chain.
After having two meals there (once outside Sacramento, once in Burbank), we both agree that the good reviews are justified. The hamburgers are excellent – juicy and fresh-tasting with crispy lettuce and fresh tomatoes and onion. The vanilla milkshakes are quite thick and the french fries are good but slightly different than the crispy fries one typically finds at fast-food places.
Several downsides: a limited menu (no chicken, fish, special burgers), a longer wait for your food as it is prepared fresh, and the restaurants are only limited to four Western states.
Overall: very good and fresh fast-food.
The Chicago Tribune reports on Illinois’ plan to cut down on state writing tests for 2010-2011 to save $3.5 million. From the article:
[L]ate last month, the Illinois State Board of Education decided to eliminate the writing exam given to students in grades three, five, six and eight for the 2010-11 school year.
The 11th grade writing test still will be given because some universities require a writing exam of applicants, said state board spokesman Matt Vanover.
I wonder if this is a cut intended to draw outrage from citizens…who might then be willing to pay more toward education.
Additionally, federal statutes focus on reading and math and do not require a writing test. The article also notes that Illinois’ writing scores are typically poor.
I’ve seen this guy, Jay Shafer, in the news before with his 89-square foot home. Here is a video of his small space from Yahoo.
I have always liked small spaces like this, particularly for their coziness. Every time I go to Ikea, I’m attracted to the 280-square foot home they usually have set up.
Stories like these occasionally pop up, often with some sermonizing regarding American consumption. With the average American home around 2,400 square feet, very small houses are rare. Smaller spaces may be common in places like Manhattan (where we occasionally hear about studio apartments created out of closets) but probably don’t appeal to many.
The Golden Gate Bridge is impressive from a distance – the color, the length, its position at the front of the bay. It is more impressive from close-up (it really is large) and from several vista points in Marin County.
(My wife and I traveled to California for nine days in early July – this is part of a series of pictures from our trip.)
The Infrastructurist presents a graphic displaying the populations of the 60 cities in China with a population over 1 million.
Some interesting points in the comments about what exactly counts as “city population.” The graphic says: “Generally the lighted area that can be observed from an airplane at night.” This is a measurement issue: should rural areas be included? Whole counties? Just within city limits? Metropolitan regions? Each choice for boundaries will change the numbers.
I’ve always been fascinated by cities and what is beneath them. Even American cities, which tend to be younger compared to other cities around the world, have some interesting items buried underground. The New York Times reports on the discovery of a 30-foot long 18th-century ship found at the World Trade Center site.
h/t The Infrastructurist
The Atlantic provides a quick roundup of opinions regarding the on-going foreclosure crisis. The verdict: it’s complicated.
Via Yahoo! Finance, the New York Times looks at the costs of living in the suburbs vs. living in the city. The verdict: unless a family is sending kids to private school (particularly at middle-school age and above), the suburban life costs about 18% more.
The basis for the analysis – and Manhattan is not part of the figures:
While our analysis was by no means scientific, our goal was to recreate the type of decision a hypothetical family of four earning $175,000 a year might encounter. We chose an upper-middle-class income because that’s generally what our family needs to earn, conservatively, to afford a median-price home in Park Slope, a section of Brooklyn that is family-friendly, has good schools and is generally more affordable than Manhattan.
The two-bedroom, one-bathroom co-operative apartment that we’re using as a model in Park Slope is listed at $675,000, close to the median price for the neighborhood, as calculated by Zillow.com.
We stacked that against a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom home in South Orange, N.J., just a 30-minute train ride from Manhattan, where the two parents work. The house is selling for $595,000.
Some experts have been talking a long time about the hidden costs of suburbia due to more driving and sprawl. Homes may be cheaper (and bigger) but there are added costs from lower density living.
If homeowners were presented with this sort of evidence (assuming it would hold up across cities), would they chose the suburbs in lesser numbers? Or would people still be willing to pay a premium for the amenities that suburbia can offer?
Legally Sociable 