Fixing Oregon’s “I Voted” Stickers

Here in Oregon, everyone votes by mail. This is great because you can vote in a bathrobe and slippers, taking your time to research candidates and measures — all over a cup of tea. You then drop it in the mail or take it to an official dropbox, and you’re done. The one problem with … Continue reading Fixing Oregon’s “I Voted” Stickers

Walk to Work Day 2016

Several years ago, a local Portland organization — I think they were called the Portland Pedestrian Coalition at the time but are now Oregon Walks — put together a Walk to Work day. They designated meetup spots in each of the quadrants of town, each about three or four miles from downtown. You’d walk, drive, or … Continue reading Walk to Work Day 2016

Portland’s Escape the Room

About a decade ago, before smartphones and tablets, when Flash games were a big thing, there was a genre of Flash games known as “Escape the Room.” One of the first popular such games was The Crimson Room. I simultaneously love and hate the genre. I like the aspect of puzzling your way out of … Continue reading Portland’s Escape the Room

Puzzled Pint Portland heat map

In response to the previous post (Puzzled Pint surveys and metrics), someone had suggested building a heat map. I built a fairly primitive one with Google Earth and a short Ruby script. The radius of each circle is proportional to the number of attendees. The height is random-ish and only varies to help distinguish overlapping circles. … Continue reading Puzzled Pint Portland heat map

A Thanksgiving Prayer & A Hipster Thanksgiving

Every Thanksgiving I try to point to the William S. Burroughs “A Thanksgiving Prayer” in one form or another. Thanks for the wild turkey and the passenger pigeons, destined to be shit out through wholesome American guts. Thanks for a continent to despoil and poison. Thanks for Indians to provide a modicum of challenge and … Continue reading A Thanksgiving Prayer & A Hipster Thanksgiving

The Portland Afoot game

This past weekend was the Portland Afoot game.  This was a sort of transit scavenger hunt put on by Portland Afoot, Portland’s 10-minute newsmagazine on buses, bikes, and low-car life.  The whole event was themed like a murder mystery (who killed Faire LeSequare — that name being an inside joke for local transit buffs) and involved … Continue reading The Portland Afoot game