London

May sees unexpected retail sales growth in London

In Economics, London, Uncategorized, Weather on 19 June 2008 with no comments

For the month of May, retail sales growth in London (+3.5%) far exceeded expectations (-0.1%). Everybody’s congratulating the weather.
“I’m staggered,” said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec. “The figures are just on a completely different plane compared to market expectations. They contradict other anecdotal evidence suggesting retail sales activity is softening. There are bound to be [...]

Hitchens, on the meaning of bohemia and the West Village

In Development, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Urbanism on 16 June 2008 with no comments

Christopher Hitchens recalls bohemia’s eclipses in London, Paris, and San Francisco, and worries that New York’s West Village may soon become another victim of the skyscraper’s shadow. The loss would be immeasurable.
[T]ry picturing American culture without the contribution of this unique square mile. Inter alia, you would have to subtract Bob Dylan and the Cafe [...]

The tactile maps of the Inuit

In Archaeology, Cartography, Eindhoven, London, Manchester on 5 June 2008 with 1 comment

The tactile maps of the Inuit

Colleen of Middle Savagery recently discussed the 3D maps used by the Inuit to navigate the coastline of East Greenland in the dark. She wonders
if tactile maps could be extrapolated to other domains–what would a tactile BART map feel like? What about an archaeological map? Would the relief become [...]

London, March 11-18

In Administrative, London on 9 March 2008 with no comments

I’ll be blogging from London this week. My girlfriend and I are attending the wedding of a friend there on Saturday.
Technorati Profile

I’m sure Dem Boom Dip Shropshire Boyz has already been taken

In Crime, List, London on 20 November 2007 with 1 comment

Stepney Posse
L.or.D
Brixton Yard Manz
Superstar Gang
These are some names of gangs in London; there are many more at The Generic Glob’s partial list of London gang names (which first appeared in The Evening Standard). I’m guessing that part of the fun of starting a criminal organization is the naming of it, but most of these names [...]

The world’s most expensive cities

In Globalization, Livability, London, New York on 22 October 2007 with no comments

A report by UBS ranks 71 world cities according to cost of living. Europe has the most on the list, thanks in part to a weak dollar; the continent had 15 of the top 25 most expensive cities, including London, the most expensive. The United States had four cities on the list, all within the [...]