In a post on Google’s generic brand social network, they revealed plans to develop what they’re calling “Project Glass;” a pair of glasses that allows you to keep in touch with your environment…via the internet. Essentially a holographic smart phone notification system with voice activation, the glasses biggest provocation, perhaps, is how ready are we to engage the image of future?
Almost like it was stripped from a sci-fi movie, this is what I’d imagine this type of technology would look like if the iPhone had a baby with Geordi LaForge’s visor (really makes you wonder what a baby between Steve Jobs and LeVar Burton would look like. Or maybe not).
The buzzing has already begun as people are speculating how it could work, what does it mean for the smart phone industry, and where they can get one? In the comments on the Google+ page, one guy goes so far as to say, “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY,” denoting his excitement for the prospective project.
But check it out for yourself. Would you buy these, much less wear them? Google+ via New York Times says you could have them by the winter.
*Hipster voice* Oh, you don’t have your personal flying helicopter car yet? It’s so three days ago.
This week the Dutch company PAL-V announced the first flights of its prototype “flying car”.
This unique vehicle is called the PAL-V One, or the ‘Personal Air and Land Vehicle’, and It marks the start of a new era.
On the ground the vehicle drives like a sports car. Within minutes its rotor is unfolded and its tail is extended: then it is ready to take off thanks to the advanced gyrocopter technology.
Frank Lloyd Wright was drawing helicopter cars for Broadacre City way before these posers. Check out this video by my friend and Fulbright Scholar, Shelby Doyle.
Roberts International Airport is Liberia’s only international airport. The airport is about 35 miles (60km) outside of Downtown Monrovia.
Roberts International Airport Monrovia
City Center
Latitude: 6°18’57.13″N
Longitude: 10°48’10.15″W
Downtown Monrovia, looking down Broad Street. Image by David Vaucher
Reasons for Urban Migration to Monrovia
Geo-climatic and Historical Factors
Mosquitoes and jungle beasts proliferate the dense forests that comprise Monrovia. For this reason, rural areas were typically left to the tribal chiefs and general population growth would occur in more urbanized areas, Monrovia being the largest.
Economic Factors
Monrovia is the largest commercial, financial and administrative center in Liberia. This centralization leads to an urban bias in policymakers to dispense more resources and have a higher concentration of development in Monrovia which, in turn, draws in the population to the city for economic opportunities and governmental benefits. Furthermore, according to LISGIS & Macro International (2008), urban respondents and those in Monrovia are much more likely to fall in the highest wealth quintile.
War and Internal Displacements
Liberian Refugees returning from Cote d'Ivoire
The civil crisis fought intermittently from 1989 to 2003 led to major population shifts within and out of the country. Since most people were forced to leave Liberia for safety reasons, many were also uprooted from their places of residence and moved to other parts of the country. During the first half of the 1990s when Monrovia was under the control of the ECOMOG peacekeepers and governed by the various Interim Governments, many moved from rebel controlled rural Liberia to Monrovia.
But this trend increased during the last version of the war from 1999 to 2003. During the final phase of the war, the western frontier seemed hostile as an escape route for forced migrants from Lofa, Gbarpolu, Bomi and Grand Cape Mount Counties who were always reminded about the reprisal attacks they faced in Sierra Leone during the RUF Invasion of 1991. With the LURD and MODEL controlling the Northwestern and Eastern routes to Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea, most people fleeing from the war moved into Monrovia and its environs for safety, harboring the hope that the war would remain a jungle affair. Now that the war has ended, many of the internally displaced persons or IDPs (especially youths and young adults) have remained in Monrovia after getting used to the urban way of life or are compelled to stay due to schooling, business or the pursuit of better standard of living. This has also led to the increase in the population of Monrovia relative to its size and available infrastructural and social services.
Rectify Maps
One of the exercises in the course is to rectify or use control points to accurately overlay historic maps of our cities in worldmap.
Here is a map of Monrovia in 1969 overlaid onto the current map.
“Move” shows actor Andrew Lees strolling toward us in perfect sync, surrounded by a mind-boggling group of scenarios, all whizzing by so quickly you have to watch this quick clip a few times just to absorb it all.
The film was part of a three-film series of short subjects commissioned by STA Travel Australia, based on the concepts of movement, learning and food. Of the three, this one is by far the most compelling. The other two, entitled “Learn” and “Eat,” are artfully done as well, and all are beautifully photographed by Director of Photography and Editor Tim White.
I recently stumbled upon the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) for Liberia.
Here are links to the Annual Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers prepared for Liberia in consultation with stakeholders and development partners like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
They were published last month in assessment of the policies in place from the last PRSP. I will be writing a policy paper on the changes and considerations that might be projected from this most recent PRSP. I’ll let you guys know when it’s done.
