Analyze

I am interested in the Macro scale and the macro effects evident at a city-scale level. I remember visiting New Orleans in 2016 and vividly remember seeing several signs with a large 'No' symbol drawn and the text  "neighbors not tourists" printed on the sign. Recently, as part of my research into New Orleans, I stumbled on this piece by the Guardian on how short-term rentals through platforms such as Airbnb are leading to gentrification in New Orleans. Highlighted in the article is how several Airbnb hosts do not reside on the listed premises. I remember the place we stayed, as we were a large party, having a 617 prefix number.  The prefix stood out as I knew the code 617 represented Boston and was curious what someone with ties to Boston doing in New Orleans as a host. In a similar vein, the article also highlights the problem of absentee hosts, hosts who acquire property for the sole purpose of setting up the property as an Airbnb site.

To tackle the problem, one councilwoman passed a law that required any Airbnb hosts in residential zones to have a homestead exemption verifying they live on site. In this case, a city-wide measure was taken and passed into law affecting the micro. It is common to have one host having several properties in different residential areas in New Orleans. From a technical standpoint, it could be viewed that Airbnb as technology is developed and presented as a scalable product. With no limits to reproducibility. Meanwhile, real-life discontinuities exist in the form of such homestead laws. It is impossible to live in more than one homestead at the same time. In other words, the concept of the human is not scalable.
Likewise, neither is cultural heritage. The city of New Orleans positions its self as a city with great cultural heritage. It is through this heritage that they seek to draw more and more tourists. How do cities think of scaling up successful initiatives and how do they navigate the political, social, ecological, or economic entanglements. At what point is downscaling necessary? Is culture scalable?

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/13/new-orleans-airbnb-trem…

I am currently a Ph.D. student interested in exploring the entanglements of scale, especially in the context of environmental sensing.  My primary research seeks to engage in discourse around the value of scalability that is presented as inherent in computation. While the term scale-up is almost synonymous with computation, sustainability; on the other hand, is known as a problem of scale. Take for example, the discourse on climate change where the actions required to combat climate change requires interventions at different scales. In this context, demanding changes at individual scales while no corresponding changes happen at larger scales would not yield much.

In looking at New Orleans, I came across a video on IoT cameras developed by Cisco, the networking giant. What struck me other than the apparent rise of surveillance capitalism was the narrative of one of the police officers highlighted in the video. The officer mentions that it is not feasible for the city to place police officers on every corner. In the context of scale, the police officer is implying that cameras are useful as they extend the police officer's ability to surveil the city. In other words, cameras and the networks help scale up the police officer, making it possible for them to cover a larger scale than before.

One of the police officers, in the video, also mentions that New Orleans is a tourist and hospitable town. Which brings up the question at any given period, what scale of visitors can New Orleans support without stretching the city's resources? Several other cities in the world have made efforts to limit visitors, in order not stretch city resources. The recent crisis at Mount Everest is an excellent example of what happens when resources are stretched to accommodate the increasing number of local visitors. How could something of this nature similarly impact New Orleans?

At the communication center where the video feed is analyzed, the IT manager provides reasons as to why they chose Cisco as their vendor. One of the reasons he gives was that the system is easily expandable, allowing the ability to scale out/up the network.

Personally would find the discussion and argument within the MFS members are compelling as the discussion had highlighted almost all the issues they have faced. Whereas these issues have become their pressure source and the fuse of their arguments. As mentioned above, the points made by their argument are valuable for any parties that intend for future serves within these areas, theoretical plans do not work in such areas which required an enormous amount of practices, and there is no ideal environment for ideal operations (~49:00 – 51:00). 

The connection for the patients and the providers can build upon the gamified health assessment via the smart phone device. Then these data are input to the provider’s section and the organizations’ section for further analytical uses. The engagement with the patients can also be done with licensed Video Chat for therapy. Or the let the patients input their information with a trackable plan.

This convention is based on the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant accident. (Date of adoption: 26  September  1986)  To  prevent  potential  nuclear  hazards  across  states  internationally.  (Convention ‐ Background) 

The aim of the program is to provide courses to train Haitians to enhance their rehabilitation skills as Haiti has a lack of the rehabilitation professionals (this situation happened with both of before the earthquake and aftermath). After taking the courses, the citizens can either be rehabilitation technicians or orthopedic technicians.

The development funding is not mentioned in the article or from the university sites. Therefore, personally will assume that the funding is raised by the university and relevant engineering associations.

OSHA has collected data and reports from the followings:

• ž   Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities (IIF) program - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• ž   Inspection Data
• ž   Industrial Hygiene Air Sampling Data - Chemical Exposure Health Data
• ž   Severe Injury Reports

At the end of the film, the need of more medical centers are suggested as in some of the countries there is no medical center to serve a whole country. Due to the lack of medical center, medical operation cannot be hold long in the area with the overwhelming populations. By sending short-term temporary medical service from foreign countries would not solve the problem at once, as the populations would get some kind of disease overtime. By building more medical centers, medical supplies would maintain in a constant rate so the emergency responders do not have to make decisions based on the supplies left.  

User data are translated into patient’s profiles, session history and tracked progress.