Here’s a game you can play along with at home: cover design for free English language listing magazines in Shanghai.

Every so often Shanghai goes through various schemes to improve how it looks. For example, we’ve had the ban on the hanging out of washing and a general disapproving eye turned on the wearing of pajamas in the street. These schemes usually take hold when they’re first introduced for a few weeks then gradually everything goes back to the way it was. Take spitting for example, during SARS there were lots of public service posters about spitting, it declined a lot. The problem is a Shanghai male cannot pass an ashtray or a urinal with out feeling the…

The Shanghai Daily is reporting that Shanghai will build three large emergency shelters. 4000 sqm each! Infrastructure investment or preparing for something? Hmmm. Presumably these will be underground. This together with the expansion of the metro system leads one to wonder what’s left underground to hold Shanghai up.

Jim Pavloff has put up a couple of videos up on YouTube that re-create two Prodigy numbers in Ableton Live. He starts from a clean slate and gradually builds up the songs from samples and loops. It’s fascinating viewing.

Two generative art examples.

Ever seen this on a menu?

I’ve just discovered The Guardian series Disappearing Acts. A series of reports presented as an audio slide show covering skills and professions that are… disappearing. Marvellous stuff: stonemasonry, calligraphy, silk ties… Well worth a look.

The Guardian have a map of teen pregnancy rates in the UK. The place I grew up - North East Lincolnshire, formerly South Humberside, formerly Lincolnshire - has been highlighted on the map for special mention. Not in a good way.