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Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

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Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#91

Post by avar »

Rainymood wrote: post #88
Animats wrote: post #63

Someone needs to develop a public toilet that's self-cleaning but doesn't cost more than some houses. The problem is making it homeless and drug dealer proof. SF has had major problems with their self-cleaning toilets.[1] Portland succeeded, but theirs is armored to contain a velociraptor and provides limited privacy.[2] [1] http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/occupied-san-francisco-... [2] http://www.citylab.com/de…

Amsterdam has these: http://www.street-art.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/1-1.jpg and https://pinkylightsaber.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/public-t... while useful, they usually are quite smelly though.

Something that only works for one gender, and only for urinating is not solving the problem of public toilets.

Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#92

Post by _nedR »

Rainymood wrote: post #88
Animats wrote: post #63

Someone needs to develop a public toilet that's self-cleaning but doesn't cost more than some houses. The problem is making it homeless and drug dealer proof. SF has had major problems with their self-cleaning toilets.[1] Portland succeeded, but theirs is armored to contain a velociraptor and provides limited privacy.[2] [1] http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/occupied-san-francisco-... [2] http://www.citylab.com/de…

Amsterdam has these: http://www.street-art.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/1-1.jpg and https://pinkylightsaber.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/public-t... while useful, they usually are quite smelly though.

I don't know whether i would call that a toilet. They're literally doing their business in the street.

Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#93

Post by stephenr »

manacit wrote: post #76
chvid wrote: post #68

From their homepage: "By 2050, the population in cities will double, intensifying existing socioeconomic, public health and environmental problems." Yes. People move into a few big cities because companies companies like Google congregate there, ultimately creating problems such as skyrocketing rents, congestion, declining real living standards, homelessness. Google holds an obvious solution in its hand. By altering…

I doubt I'm in the minority here when I say I wouldn't move to a 'specialized and remote' community inhabited by people who are all affiliated with the same company. I don't live to work, and I don't want to be surrounded solely by people who are affiliated with the company I work for. While one of the reasons I live in Manhattan is because the job market is very good, I also enjoy it precisely because there is diver…

> I wouldn't move to a 'specialized and remote' community inhabited by people who are all affiliated with the same company.

Re-read the sentence again.

> By altering their way of working they could support remote working, creating clusters of specialized work forces and communities online rather than in a narrow physical location.

The concept is that if you encourage remote working via online workplaces, you can solve the "big city" issue for a percentage of the population by allowing them to live further away from the densely populated areas "because of work".

Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#94

Post by stephenr »

gull wrote: post #69

From http://www.sidewalkinc.com/ : "By 2050, the population in cities will double" Is the best solution a frontal attack? Or could it be moving away from existing cities? Could one design a new city from scratch?

If you pack a lot of people in to smaller/denser living spaces like rats, they will still live like rats, regardless of of whether the bus shelter is able to wish them a happy birthday.

Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#95

Post by sixothree »

nulltype wrote: post #16
NN88 wrote: post #11

Google is going to start building infrastructure. Rail, fiber, cable, etc. All the things the US Government should have been doing

Why should the government be doing it?

Pretty sure all road work in my state is done by private companies.

Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#96

Post by jacobolus »

avar wrote: post #84
Animats wrote: post #63

Someone needs to develop a public toilet that's self-cleaning but doesn't cost more than some houses. The problem is making it homeless and drug dealer proof. SF has had major problems with their self-cleaning toilets.[1] Portland succeeded, but theirs is armored to contain a velociraptor and provides limited privacy.[2] [1] http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/occupied-san-francisco-... [2] http://www.citylab.com/de…

Hasn't this already been invented? With the problem being that most westerners don't like the solution because it looks unfamiliar: * You install a squat toilet * It's cleaned by flooding the entire toilet area with water, which once turned off all washes down into the toilet * No toilet paper, you clean yourself with water

The biggest problem is not even that it looks unfamiliar, but that the majority of “westerners” have insufficient ankle flexibility to squat, due to a lifetime of sitting in chairs and no experience squatting.

You might be able to build a squat toilet where the feet rested on a ramp (i.e. raised at the heel side), though I suspect most Americans would still refuse to use it.

Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#97

Post by mootothemax »

stephenr wrote: post #89
Animats wrote: post #63

Someone needs to develop a public toilet that's self-cleaning but doesn't cost more than some houses. The problem is making it homeless and drug dealer proof. SF has had major problems with their self-cleaning toilets.[1] Portland succeeded, but theirs is armored to contain a velociraptor and provides limited privacy.[2] [1] http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/occupied-san-francisco-... [2] http://www.citylab.com/de…

What is "homeless proof"? If you have so many homeless people, maybe you should solve that problem first ?

If you have so many homeless people, maybe you should solve that problem first?

Solving homelessness isn't an on/off switch; people are still going to need a toilet while homelessness is being "fixed".

(It's a problem with saying why not solve X instead? You end up with neither fixed, and everybody loses. I mean, why solve homelessness when there are hungry kids that need feeding? And so the cycle continues.)

As an aside, I'm not convinced that it's homeless people per se that are the problem; it's people with issues that abuse public toilets, whether through drugs, alcohol or being a general malcontent, and "the homeless" get blamed as convenient name.

It's not like corporate headquarters are invulnerably to toilet abuse, least of all from the execs.

Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#98

Post by w-m »

Animats wrote: post #63

Someone needs to develop a public toilet that's self-cleaning but doesn't cost more than some houses. The problem is making it homeless and drug dealer proof. SF has had major problems with their self-cleaning toilets.[1] Portland succeeded, but theirs is armored to contain a velociraptor and provides limited privacy.[2] [1] http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/occupied-san-francisco-... [2] http://www.citylab.com/de…

Paris has over 400 of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanisette

They're free to use, not drug dealer proof, and close at night. I'd say they work well, but they're rather ugly.

Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#99

Post by stephenr »

mootothemax wrote: post #97
stephenr wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is "homeless proof"? If you have so many homeless people, maybe you should solve that problem first ?

If you have so many homeless people, maybe you should solve that problem first? Solving homelessness isn't an on/off switch; people are still going to need a toilet while homelessness is being "fixed". (It's a problem with saying why not solve X instead ? You end up with neither fixed, and everybody loses. I mean, why solve homelessness when there are hungry kids that need feeding ? And so the cycle continues.) As an…

When someone says they want to make something "homeless proof" I assume they mean something like this: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/homelessness-...

Hence my comment - if you're worried about homeless people in your precious toilet, you (as a city/society) have bigger problems than public toilets.

Re: Google Launches Sidewalk Labs

#100

Post by plumeria »

w-m wrote: post #98
Animats wrote: post #63

Someone needs to develop a public toilet that's self-cleaning but doesn't cost more than some houses. The problem is making it homeless and drug dealer proof. SF has had major problems with their self-cleaning toilets.[1] Portland succeeded, but theirs is armored to contain a velociraptor and provides limited privacy.[2] [1] http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/occupied-san-francisco-... [2] http://www.citylab.com/de…

Paris has over 400 of these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanisette They're free to use, not drug dealer proof, and close at night. I'd say they work well, but they're rather ugly.

They need to improve them by using antimicrobial copper: http://antimicrobialcopper.org/
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