in Ann Arbor, MI 48103
{ Tag archives }
The world is too much with you, so allow yourself to find comfort in:
Ann Arbor needs a convention center like it needs a place to have a meeting. Google will kindly tell you how and when to take the bus in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. You can get a share from the Community Farm, but only if you can drive your herbivorous ass out there.
What can you do to make a difference in southeastern Michigan’s economy? You gotta say, “I’m from the Detroit region, where innovation and opportunity thrive.” If you drink this punch, you will not explode.
Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, it takes six thousand characters to explain how to write great copy in 160 characters.
You can’t understand what’s happening right now in America.
I wrote and rewrote and deleted this paragraph, replacing it with this trash. Some things are too true to explain in 140 or 160 or 255 or 821 characters.
We’re kicking at the tires of the moving engines again. Liana’s finished at EMU in a month, and both of us are likely to work on things in zero-eight that have some meatspace Ann Arbor component. So a goal is to get within easy bus shot of Blake and other points around the center of camp. A secondary goal is to not live along or anywhere near the Plymouth Road corridor, since those were the environs, continuously, for my first nine years inside the Washtenaw bubble. A tertiary goal is to procure a microscopic little apartment, for various small-here comma big-here reasons to be expounded on, at sufficient length, in the infinite and perfected future.
So here’s the tour we’ll make later this week:
View Larger Map — any thoughts, comments, amendments?
At this writing, there are 11 Placeshout microneogeographers in Ann Arbor who’ve written 5 or more shoutouts. The top 5 cities on the site are (1) Ann Arbor, (2) San Francisco, (3) Detroit, (4) Ypsilanti, and (5) Atlanta. 35 cities in Michigan have at least one place mentioned.
There’s a Placeshout Facebook group.
New feature: RSS feeds per location, e.g. Ann Arbor geoRSS.
Late last week, Catherine twitterinvited folks to bulk up Ann Arbor on Placeshout. Three days later, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti are the first and third most “shouted” cities, with San Francisco coming in second. This reminds me of the early, happy days of upcoming.org, when Ann Arbor was one of the locations with the most user and event churn.
So what the hell is Placeshout? Take a look. For context, see Ed’s notes on the KARB/KYIP Placeshout event. Here’s all of my activity on the site.
It’s too bad there’s no API, and no feeds. You can search and Google Maps browse and so forth right on the site, so there’s no pressing need, beyond the standard desire to pipe Placeshout white noise into various filters. Or grab a KML. Or update Placeshout from Twitter (I can only assume that’s what the additional 40 characters in twitterspace are for).
I do like how you aren’t expected to make friends with everybody. It’s enough, at least for now, to see a username you know and think O HAI and just move on with the pressing business of downrating inappropriately positive reviews of Ann Arbor’s crappier brewpubs.
Moving over the next few days. I’ve lived along the same bus route more or less continually for nine years, and I’m a critter of habit, so this will be interesting! Destination Ypsilanti, a short walk east of Depot Town — trading in current cafe haunts for a new set. I’ll be planning a day or two a week to spend in Ann Arbor, and those of you I’m working with can help me figure out what those days should be. The masthead here will change once we’re wired at the new place.
