October 2008
34 posts
The Technology Policy Smackdown — Recording Now... →
Unfortunately, the “smackdown” linked yesterday did not occur. The McCain campaign rep cancelled at the last minute. Think Progress notes that he appeared on MSNBC at a time that fell in the middle of the event.
The event went ahead with only Reed Hundt represening the Obama campaign. See the event page for audio and video recordings.
[Hundt debated Michael Powell in June on...
AIG Collapse Leaves Transit Agencies in the Lurch →
Streetsblog has a link-filled post about the troubles faced by various transit agencies due to AIG’s problems. (Such issues were first referenced here in last Friday’s Transit System in Trouble… post.)
The problems are not small:
According to the Hill, the total exposure of more than 30 transit agencies could reach “well over $1 billion.”
Regarding NYC-area transit...
McCain v. Obama: The Technology Policy Smackdown →
“Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Reed Hundt Debate the Candidates’ Tech Agendas.” I wish I was in DC to go see this tomorrow. Fortunately, its going to be webcast (and, I presume, video/audio will be available after the event). [via]
China Channel Firefox Add-on →
“Experience the censored Chinese internet at home!”
delicious/tags/ColgateNewsmakers →
While my alma mater’s online ventures into the world of blogs, podcasting, and photo-sharing have not really blown me away, I admire this clever and elegant use of graduation years as tags on delicious. News stories featuring members of, say, the class of 1998 can be found at http://delicious.com/ColgateNewsmakers/1998 and are listed inline in per-class pages on the alumni website.
Transit Systems in Trouble Due to Financial Crisis
The Washington Post has an article about the Washington-area Metro’s problems stemming from the financial crisis:
AIG had guaranteed deals between transit agencies and banks under which the banks made upfront payments that the agencies agreed to repay over time. But AIG’s financial problems have invalidated the company’s guarantees, putting the deals in technical default and...
Queen's Hideway, A Greenpoint Success, Is Closed →
Gothamist reports on the closing of The Queen’s Hideaway restaurant, due to a rent increase. I had a few good meals here, so this is disappointing.
No más! Hook vendors season ends →
Brooklyn Paper’s wrap-up of the Red Hook Vendors’ season. Vendor spokesperson Carlos Fuents:“I don’t believe that any of the vendors were fully able to recuperate from the financial blow of the season.”
“But note that Hawley doesn’t exactly say that; he calls them...”
– Bruce Schneier, Kip Hawley Responds to My Airport Security Antics
How to get my nerd vote →
Matt Haughey lists nerd-centric issues that matter to him: broadband, universal healthcare (“…if we flipped a switch tomorrow and everyone had health coverage I swear a million small businesses would launch overnight”), science, education, transporation, transparency, intellectual property, and more. [via]
JetBlue's New Terminal at JFK Offers Huge... →
Architecture critic on the new Terminal 5
Last Weekend of the 2008 Season For the Red Hook... →
“Cesar Fuentes has announced that this weekend will be the last of this season for the Red Hook Ballfields vendors.” [via]
On the subject of the Ball Fields: “Architecture for Humanity New York (AFHny) announces a month-long ideas competition in search of innovative concepts for a new market place for the Red Hook Food Vendors” [via]
MTA to Geo-Target Ads on Busses →
NY Post: “The MTA is looking to put high-tech digital screens on the sides of buses so it can target ads to neighborhoods and even individual blocks…. For instance, the screens can show an ad for Saks Fifth Avenue while in Manhattan and change to Target in Brooklyn. The ads can even change languages according to the ethnicity of a neighborhood.” [via]
How Hackable is Your State's Voting System? →
“DVICE has researched all of the nation’s voting machines to tell you what technology you’ll be using on Election Day and what potential problems and vulnerabilities it might have.” [via]
Conspiracy Theorizing →
“unstated but necessary conditions for all [Obama conspiracy theories] to be true” [via]
“The very, absolute last comic strip characters destined to become true household...”
– Berkeley Breathed, in “The end of ‘Opus,’” an inerview with Salon
Op-Chart - Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants →
Chart showing how much $10,000 would grow when invested under only Democratic presidents or only Republican presidents. [via]
Update: Wolfram’s Theodore Gray: “Here are some problems with the New York Times’ Op-Chart…” [via]
Microsoft announces 20 editions of Windows 7!... →
“Windows 7 Voting Machine…. In the event of a judicial audit, Microsoft provides indemnity and rapid transit by helicopter or speedboat to Paraguay.”
“The kitchen motto: no one gets ill. (Until I worked there, I’d always...”
– Bill Buford, Heat, chapter 15
“Either Americans wake up with respect to infrastructure needs or we will no...”
– Howard Roberts, President of New York City Transit, in an interview with subway blog Second Ave. Sagas
“They’re still bland and generic, and they really don’t reflect what’s unique...”
– Jonathan Bowles, one of the authors of a 2006 report on street fairs, quoted in Back Rubs? Check. Chickens? Not at These Fairs. [via]
Trader Joe's Wants to Open on Upper West Side →
TJ’s has submitted a proposal for “a two-level store in a tower under construction at Broadway and 72nd Street next year” [via]
CleanScores →
Restaurant health inspection reports from various cities, including New York. Better interface than searching nyc.gov for this info, plus a nice trendline that shows how the score has changed over time. [via Google Maps detail popup for a restaurant]
A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century →
“Chuck Klosterman issues his predictions for the coming century … OCT. 19, 2071: An army of panda bears attacks Beijing, killing twelve hundred people and wounding thousands more during a bloody four-day onslaught.”
Loss of control fuels rituals, superstition: study →
“The less control people have over their lives, the most likely they are to try to regain control through mental gymnastics….” [via]
After Several Dark Years, Amtrak Does Well in... →
NY Times: “The bill… authorizes the railroad’s programs for the next five years. Even that is a step forward for the beleaguered railroad; the last time Congress had a strong enough consensus to pass an authorization bill for Amtrak was in 1997, and it has gone six years with stopgap measures.” Plus, funding “to study high-speed rail corridors around the country.” ...
Times Traveler Blog →
Each day, a summary of the New York Times from 100 years ago. Subscribed. [via]
Tele Atlas Customers Get Tomtom Data; Let the... →
“Tele Atlas is going to start selling Tomtom [GPS] speed profile data…. This data should give companies an edge when routing their customers (it already assists Tomtom consumers).”
