Mark Banks
@markbanks.bsky.social
Resident of the mighty metropolis of Dungog.
Reposted by Mark Banks
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Reposted by Mark Banks
We’re offering a free bollard to anyone who can tell us what this superb little car is.
#WorldBollardAssociation
#WorldBollardAssociation
September 3, 2025 at 7:02 PM
We’re offering a free bollard to anyone who can tell us what this superb little car is.
#WorldBollardAssociation
#WorldBollardAssociation
Reposted by Mark Banks
Rewriting History - © Chappatte in Le Temps, Geneva 👉 chappatte.com/fr/images/re...
August 31, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Rewriting History - © Chappatte in Le Temps, Geneva 👉 chappatte.com/fr/images/re...
August 29, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Reposted by Mark Banks
The Charlie Chaplin bollard.
#WorldBollardAssociation
#WorldBollardAssociation
August 10, 2025 at 11:02 AM
The Charlie Chaplin bollard.
#WorldBollardAssociation
#WorldBollardAssociation
Reposted by Mark Banks
This is objectively a smart policy whose only possible counterargument is "but personal freedom." Which is hopelessly weak if you think about it for even a moment. Cars are the only realm of society where routinely, lethally, breaking the law is accepted.
My least popular (and most correct) view is that cars should be automatically limited to the local speed limit. Put the pedal to the floor and you still can't go over 25mph in a residential area.
(15 in Manhattan btw)
(15 in Manhattan btw)
There is no possible justification for limiting e-bikes to 15mph but not cars.
August 9, 2025 at 5:10 PM
This is objectively a smart policy whose only possible counterargument is "but personal freedom." Which is hopelessly weak if you think about it for even a moment. Cars are the only realm of society where routinely, lethally, breaking the law is accepted.
Reposted by Mark Banks
After Amsterdam introduced the 30 km/h speed limit on most roads, the first results are in:
- Crashes on these roads dropped by 11%
- Road noise is down by 1.5 decibels
- Most drivers now respect the new limit, with serious speeding (over 55 km/h) dropping from 1% to 0.2%
buff.ly/tNv3YCS
- Crashes on these roads dropped by 11%
- Road noise is down by 1.5 decibels
- Most drivers now respect the new limit, with serious speeding (over 55 km/h) dropping from 1% to 0.2%
buff.ly/tNv3YCS
August 7, 2025 at 3:39 PM
After Amsterdam introduced the 30 km/h speed limit on most roads, the first results are in:
- Crashes on these roads dropped by 11%
- Road noise is down by 1.5 decibels
- Most drivers now respect the new limit, with serious speeding (over 55 km/h) dropping from 1% to 0.2%
buff.ly/tNv3YCS
- Crashes on these roads dropped by 11%
- Road noise is down by 1.5 decibels
- Most drivers now respect the new limit, with serious speeding (over 55 km/h) dropping from 1% to 0.2%
buff.ly/tNv3YCS
Reposted by Mark Banks
Early for the Nebulized! I went back to Vegas to check in on how hyperloop technology is progressing. Consider my mind blown
nebula.tv/videos/cityn...
nebula.tv/videos/cityn...
CityNerd — The Vegas Loop Is Getting Progressively Stupider
I went back to check in on The Boring Company's Vegas Loop, three years after my first video on this project. What I saw was truly amazing, and now I can see EXACTLY why Nashville wants in on this act...
nebula.tv
August 6, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Early for the Nebulized! I went back to Vegas to check in on how hyperloop technology is progressing. Consider my mind blown
nebula.tv/videos/cityn...
nebula.tv/videos/cityn...
Reposted by Mark Banks
Here’s a new poem called ‘Wild Weekend’.
July 20, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Here’s a new poem called ‘Wild Weekend’.
Reposted by Mark Banks
Age verification via face scans is not safety — it's surveillance. Biometric age guessing is inaccurate, discriminatory, and creepy AF. Stop normalizing it.
Face Scans to Estimate Our Age: Harmful and Creepy AF
Government must stop restricting website access with laws requiring age verification.Some advocates of these censorship schemes argue we can nerd our way out of the many harms they cause to speech, eq...
www.eff.org
July 18, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Age verification via face scans is not safety — it's surveillance. Biometric age guessing is inaccurate, discriminatory, and creepy AF. Stop normalizing it.
Reposted by Mark Banks
*Les Conseillers d’État*. Jardin du Palais Royal, Paris Centre, Paris, France.
#blueskyartshow #sideways #humansofbluesky #urbangaze #eastcoastkin #people #humans #urban #garden #judges #juges #justices #Paris #streetphotography #minimal #stunday #legs
#blueskyartshow #sideways #humansofbluesky #urbangaze #eastcoastkin #people #humans #urban #garden #judges #juges #justices #Paris #streetphotography #minimal #stunday #legs
July 5, 2025 at 6:46 AM
*Les Conseillers d’État*. Jardin du Palais Royal, Paris Centre, Paris, France.
#blueskyartshow #sideways #humansofbluesky #urbangaze #eastcoastkin #people #humans #urban #garden #judges #juges #justices #Paris #streetphotography #minimal #stunday #legs
#blueskyartshow #sideways #humansofbluesky #urbangaze #eastcoastkin #people #humans #urban #garden #judges #juges #justices #Paris #streetphotography #minimal #stunday #legs
Reposted by Mark Banks
New:
It’s absurd and embarrassing in a liberal democracy to have to say this, but people shouldn’t be punished for protesting against genocidal oppression, or speaking about it.
So many cultural institutions have done this very thing though - and damaged themselves in the process.
It’s absurd and embarrassing in a liberal democracy to have to say this, but people shouldn’t be punished for protesting against genocidal oppression, or speaking about it.
So many cultural institutions have done this very thing though - and damaged themselves in the process.
The Lattouf case and the ongoing chilling effects
On pro-Israel pressure campaigns and Australia’s cultural organisations
nickfeik.substack.com
June 28, 2025 at 6:45 AM
New:
It’s absurd and embarrassing in a liberal democracy to have to say this, but people shouldn’t be punished for protesting against genocidal oppression, or speaking about it.
So many cultural institutions have done this very thing though - and damaged themselves in the process.
It’s absurd and embarrassing in a liberal democracy to have to say this, but people shouldn’t be punished for protesting against genocidal oppression, or speaking about it.
So many cultural institutions have done this very thing though - and damaged themselves in the process.
Reposted by Mark Banks
This might be a @streetfilms.bsky.social record but our new film on Ghent, Belgium got 457 likes on Youtube before getting its first dislike! Almost all of our films average 95% liked or better, but come see what ~6K people who have watched like!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSN1...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSN1...
Ghent Kicked Out the Cars So You Can Walk, Bike, Live & Thrive in the City (Velo-City 2024)
YouTube video by Streetfilms®
www.youtube.com
March 31, 2025 at 1:16 AM
This might be a @streetfilms.bsky.social record but our new film on Ghent, Belgium got 457 likes on Youtube before getting its first dislike! Almost all of our films average 95% liked or better, but come see what ~6K people who have watched like!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSN1...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSN1...
Reposted by Mark Banks
New Danish study concludes that traffic noise is killing people:
"A 14.9 decibel increase in road traffic noise [outside the home] was associated ... with an 8.1% increased risk of all-cause mortality."
Traffic noise was much deadlier than air pollution.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40403531/
"A 14.9 decibel increase in road traffic noise [outside the home] was associated ... with an 8.1% increased risk of all-cause mortality."
Traffic noise was much deadlier than air pollution.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40403531/
June 12, 2025 at 10:58 AM
New Danish study concludes that traffic noise is killing people:
"A 14.9 decibel increase in road traffic noise [outside the home] was associated ... with an 8.1% increased risk of all-cause mortality."
Traffic noise was much deadlier than air pollution.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40403531/
"A 14.9 decibel increase in road traffic noise [outside the home] was associated ... with an 8.1% increased risk of all-cause mortality."
Traffic noise was much deadlier than air pollution.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40403531/
Reposted by Mark Banks
Sunset on Friday 18th December 1908. I have cleaned-up this astounding autochrome photograph of twilight 117 years ago, taken in colour by Julien Gérardin. It is an original colour plate, not colourised.
May 29, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Sunset on Friday 18th December 1908. I have cleaned-up this astounding autochrome photograph of twilight 117 years ago, taken in colour by Julien Gérardin. It is an original colour plate, not colourised.
Reposted by Mark Banks
Above and Below
A train arrives at Finchley Central London Underground Station late in the evening as a bus travels above.
#photography #london
A train arrives at Finchley Central London Underground Station late in the evening as a bus travels above.
#photography #london
May 19, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Above and Below
A train arrives at Finchley Central London Underground Station late in the evening as a bus travels above.
#photography #london
A train arrives at Finchley Central London Underground Station late in the evening as a bus travels above.
#photography #london
Reposted by Mark Banks
DEUT
Black and white version of this view looking from Canary Wharf Docklands Light Railway station looking back at Heron Quays station.
The vantage point is on board the Stratford DLR, shooting through the glass at the back of the train.
#photography #railway
Black and white version of this view looking from Canary Wharf Docklands Light Railway station looking back at Heron Quays station.
The vantage point is on board the Stratford DLR, shooting through the glass at the back of the train.
#photography #railway
May 1, 2025 at 6:29 AM
DEUT
Black and white version of this view looking from Canary Wharf Docklands Light Railway station looking back at Heron Quays station.
The vantage point is on board the Stratford DLR, shooting through the glass at the back of the train.
#photography #railway
Black and white version of this view looking from Canary Wharf Docklands Light Railway station looking back at Heron Quays station.
The vantage point is on board the Stratford DLR, shooting through the glass at the back of the train.
#photography #railway
Reposted by Mark Banks
A soft clean bag full of fuzzy orange-bellied parrot bubs - is there a bag with better contents anywhere? Probably not tbh
🧡💚🧡
🧡💚🧡
April 24, 2025 at 10:17 AM
A soft clean bag full of fuzzy orange-bellied parrot bubs - is there a bag with better contents anywhere? Probably not tbh
🧡💚🧡
🧡💚🧡
Reposted by Mark Banks
Went one better. It seems to have invented an entirely imaginary film for mine.
April 23, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Went one better. It seems to have invented an entirely imaginary film for mine.
Reposted by Mark Banks
April 21, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Mark Banks
Climate change is driving more disasters & more damage.
The cost of insurance is 📈 & large parts of the country are becoming uninsurable or too expensive to insure.
We need investment to make communities more resilient & save in the long-term.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...
The cost of insurance is 📈 & large parts of the country are becoming uninsurable or too expensive to insure.
We need investment to make communities more resilient & save in the long-term.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...
This town is a 'canary in the coal mine' as climate change threatens home ownership
New data shows dozens of suburbs around the country are at risk of becoming uninsurable, triggering warnings of a "climate-induced credit crunch".
www.abc.net.au
April 14, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Climate change is driving more disasters & more damage.
The cost of insurance is 📈 & large parts of the country are becoming uninsurable or too expensive to insure.
We need investment to make communities more resilient & save in the long-term.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...
The cost of insurance is 📈 & large parts of the country are becoming uninsurable or too expensive to insure.
We need investment to make communities more resilient & save in the long-term.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...
Reposted by Mark Banks
Here’s a poem called ‘Prayer for Uninteresting Times’.
April 1, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Here’s a poem called ‘Prayer for Uninteresting Times’.
Reposted by Mark Banks
We’re changing the way we travel, street by street, city by city. Great video on the Ghent transformation. youtu.be/VSN1BR6es6E?...
Ghent Kicked Out the Cars So You Can Walk, Bike, Live & Thrive in the City (Velo-City 2024)
YouTube video by Streetfilms®
youtu.be
March 29, 2025 at 7:06 AM
We’re changing the way we travel, street by street, city by city. Great video on the Ghent transformation. youtu.be/VSN1BR6es6E?...
Reposted by Mark Banks
Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘The Canal at Islington’ (1977)
Artist: SR Badmin
‘The Canal at Islington’ (1977)
Artist: SR Badmin
March 27, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Other work by the Ladybird artists
‘The Canal at Islington’ (1977)
Artist: SR Badmin
‘The Canal at Islington’ (1977)
Artist: SR Badmin