I see these all over the curbs in San Francisco. I’m guessing it’s some sort of thing city workers do to mark something, and they use different colors different times they do it. This was on Market Street near the Four Seasons, but I’ve seen a ton in Mission too.
Matt on Not-WordPress, mostly photos 
It’s called dotspotting. San Franscisco’s Mosquito Abatement Team uses the “technique” to mark which drains they’ve inspected during the current inspection period. Each inspection period is given a certain color. If a drain doesn’t have that color yet, then it hasn’t been inspected during that period. Here’s a more in depth desciption: http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2011/03/how-dotspotting-began-with-colored-dots-on-drains-in-san-francisco066.html
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Great photo. It’s nice to see to see something different and interesting that most people may not notice.
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Quora has some answers: http://www.quora.com/San-Francisco/Whats-up-with-those-multicolored-spray-paint-dots-that-are-on-all-of-the-curb-corners-in-downtown-San-Francisco
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Wow you guys are fast. Thank you. 🙂
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Could they be a new sort of Banksy-style street art?
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See and I thought they were some sort of paintball fun.
x,
Becca
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I thought it’s a new AD campaing for the new iPad mini 😛
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You mean the iPod Touch?! Lol!
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They just reminded me of the mapping and elevation studies done generally through the U. S. and other parts of the world. But, in hind-sight, most of those are square, and triangle notches placed throughout the cities. I like the art and paintball comments though.
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Here’s some even more information about the group behind them:
http://mosquitosf.com/mac-team-article-on-atlantic-cities/
On a WordPress-powered site, natch!
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Very interesting.
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No matter how you try to explain it with government drowned in politics today, even all the dot your “i’s” and cross your “T’s” being an issue everywhere, I would say it is no more then paint on a sidewalk. If their was a meaning to it that actually benefited anything, I would sincerely be shocked.
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Regardless, it is pretty. Better than the usual blaze-orange-only markers.
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Agree, it’s somehow procedurally artistic..
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it’s some sort of thing city workers do to mark something! 😉
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I know this is dead but….you mean people get to not only do something good for the community as a job/career, but shoot stuff with paintball guns too? I am headed for the wrong field…haha
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Reblogged this on cinegrafando.
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It looks like a landmark to guide people to the place where the Hindu spring festival will take place.
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