Interesting Links for 20-01-2020

[andrewducker]

Serious design flaws in many housing estates

(tags:housing UK OhForFucksSake )

Richer Sounds founder bankrolls push to end zero-hours contracts

(tags:work working_hours uk )

Gorgeous Lord of the Rings tarot

(tags:tarot art lotr )

Influencers are being offered thousands for sex

(tags:celebrity sex )

Studio Ghibli films are coming to Netflix outside North America next month

(tags:viaSwampers ghibli anime netflix )

Bananas Are Berries, Strawberries Aren't

(tags:banana fruit ontology )

New suction-cup system spins water to stick to rough surfaces

(tags:design water Technology climbing )

Comments

[cmcmck]

And tomatoes are neither fruit nor vegetable! :o)

[andrewducker]

Some kind of chicken, I believe?

[cmcmck]

I'm veggie and love tomatoes so that could be a problem! :o)

A drupe, apparently.

Who knew?

[ninetydegrees]

"Studio Ghibli films are coming to Netflix outside North America next month"

The awesomest. Thanks for the news.

[andrewducker]

I'm delighted! Although sorry for the USAians.

[alithea]

Ditto, I shall keep an eye out!

[danieldwilliam]

But she insists it is not a form of prostitution: "It is a targeted relationship that progresses over time... Whereas I think prostitution is when you agree a fee with a stranger."

I'm not sure how a targeted relationship that developes in to exchanging sex for money is not prostitution.

And I'm reminded of one of the things that keeps occuring to me whilst watching the Trial of Christine Keller that it is important to know what industry you are in.

[andrewducker]

I can't see it either!

[danieldwilliam]

I'm not morally outraged by people exchanging sex for money. That's their business. I believe some people are outraged one way or another. I certainly see that people might be shy about engaging in those exchanges. That's also their business.

But important to know what your job is in order to avoid complications later on I'd have thought.

[andrewducker]

My general feeling is that you can't get anywhere unless you know where you are. And being dishonest with yourself about that really doesn't help.

[alithea]

Yes.

I'm confident that it's still prostitution even if you've been interacting for long enough that they don't class as a stranger any more.

[anna_wing]

She's what used to be called a mistress, and is now also known euphemistically as a "sugar baby/sugar daddy relationship". Contractual concubinage, someone who is more than a prostitute, but less than a legally recognised junior wife with legal rights and legitimate children. There are companies that put people looking for this sort of relationship in touch with each other. Concubine brokers, basically.

[danieldwilliam]

That's the badger! That's exactly what it is. Thanks.

[mountainkiss]

I do like “banana fruit ontology” as a set of tags.

[andrewducker]

"The banana fruit ontology" would make a passably good Big Bang Theory episode title.

(They all read like that. From "the fuzzy boots corollary" to "The Luminous Fish effect")

[mountainkiss]

Could they be philosophical? Or do they have to be scientific?

[andrewducker]

Good question! They didn't hold themselves to a very strict standard.
There's a list here https://bigbangtheory.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_The_Big_Bang_Theory_episodes

[skington]

I see that howstuffworks.com have decided that Yahoo's GDPR model of "uncheck every single advertising company one by one" is one to follow.

[danieldwilliam]

And one that is not compliant with GDPR and which at some point will land them with a fine. Which may, or may not be bigger than the revenue they will earn by being non-compliant.

Design flaws in housing estates

[alithea]

There's a not so new housing estate on the edge of Dundee which has family homes with tiny gardens, no shared green space, no amenities whatsoever on the estate and is the other side of a dual carriageway from all the closest services except one small supermarket (which still requires you to walk or cycle next to the very busy road).

Re: Design flaws in housing estates

[andrewducker]

The councillors who approved that should be taken out and shot.

Re: Design flaws in housing estates

[anna_wing]

It's odd that cities are still allowing this. There is mountains of research and evidence and worked examples globally on optimal design for new neighbourhoods, for a wide variety of socio-economic and cultural contexts. Urban planning is a major profession. This sort of thing isn't new.

Re: Design flaws in housing estates

[nojay]

There isn't an inexhaustible amount of land to build houses on but there is an inexhaustible demand for more housing. Either a development gets forty houses built on it at, say, £250,000 each or the developers build thirty houses with lots of green space, big gardens and play areas and the like but the houses cost £330,000 each. That's ten fewer homes and they cost more, pricing them out of the reach of lower-income families.

Another solution is something like Todos Santos, pile people high in skyscraper developments with a lesser ground footprint but people want a semi-detached or standalone home with a garden and garage/driveway and it has to be cheap and close to the shops and schools and have good public transport links etc. Something has to give, either the price goes way way up or the amenities go down.