Network Archives

Feds close 600 weather stations amid criticism they’re situated to report warming

"Data from hundreds of weather stations located around the U.S. appear to show the planet is getting warmer, but some critics say it's the government's books that are getting cooked -- thanks to temperature readings from sweltering parking lots, airports and other locations that distort the true state of the climate. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has closed some 600 out of nearly 9,000 weather stations over the past two years that it has deemed problematic or unnecessary, after a long campaign by one critic highlighting the problem of using unreliable data." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds close 600 weather stations amid criticism they’re situated to report warming

Inside the Hyperloop: the pneumatic travel system faster than the speed of sound

"Mr Musk will not be patenting the design and it will be 'open source'. His motivation for the project came from disillusionment with the Golden State’s high speed rail project, which has been dubbed the 'bullet train to nowhere' after a series of setbacks. He believes the Hyperloop could be built for a tenth of the cost and deliver passengers between the two cities in just 30 minutes, compared to three hours for the bullet train. The bullet train is currently estimated to be costing $68 billion and may not be completed until 2028. It would reach top speeds of only around 130mph. In a survey seven in 10 people said they would 'never or hardly ever' use it anyway." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInside the Hyperloop: the pneumatic travel system faster than the speed of sound

With the Central Subway Project, the Only Way Out is Through

"At times, it's difficult to remember that voters approved the Central Subway. That's because the project, a 1.7-mile extension of the T-line running from SoMa to Chinatown, as described in Proposition K of 2003, hardly resembles its current iteration. A $647 million budget has swelled to some $1.6 billion. An estimated daily ridership exceeding 100,000 is now pegged at 35,100. But if misery loves company, we've got both. A recent U.S. Department of Transportation study of 10 major rail projects revealed an average cost-per-passenger 500 percent higher than the initial figures used to sell the idea." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith the Central Subway Project, the Only Way Out is Through

Petition to name San Francisco’s Bay Bridge after Emperor Norton gains support

"Norton, a successful businessman, immigrated to San Francisco from South Africa during the 19th century. After losing his fortune, Norton took the unusual step of proclaiming himself Emperor of the United States in 1859. He later added 'Protector of Mexico' to his official title. Norton is still remembered today because the people of San Francisco embraced him. Newspapers printed his proclamations free of charge and businesses accepted his imperial currency. He strolled through the streets clad in a blue army uniform and a beaver hat, inspecting his royal domain and speaking with his loyal subjects." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPetition to name San Francisco’s Bay Bridge after Emperor Norton gains support

San Francisco split by Silicon Valley’s wealth

"Heated bidding wars — especially in a half-mile radius of shuttle bus stops — have broken out, causing rents to soar, even double in some cases. Along shuttle routes, trendy new restaurants that serve high-end food and spirits have taken the place of corner stores and mom-and-pop businesses. Anti-Google graffiti has turned up here, and activists recently held a small anti-gentrification rally at which they smashed a Google bus piñata. Ted Gullicksen, executive director of the San Francisco Tenants Union, said he fears that the techies are permanently inheriting the city and won't pack up and leave as they did after the 2000 dot-com crash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSan Francisco split by Silicon Valley’s wealth

Google to challenge telecoms with fleet of solar-powered balloons

"In recent months, Google Inc has announced plans to bring free wireless Internet access to 7,000 Starbucks cafes across America, eventually displacing AT&T Inc; it has asked U.S. regulators for broader access to wireless airwaves; and it has launched 30 solar-powered balloons over the South Pacific ocean, designed to beam the Internet to remote regions. Then there is Google Fiber, the high-speed cable TV and Internet service that was introduced in Kansas City late last year and that will be expanded soon to Austin and Provo, Utah. Fiber delivers Internet speeds at 1 gigabit per second, as much as 100 times faster than the average U.S. network." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGoogle to challenge telecoms with fleet of solar-powered balloons

Bono: “Capitalism takes more people out of poverty than aid”

"Bono (nee Paul David Hewson) is the lead singer in the rock group U2, one of the most successful rock groups in history. Bono also became a major proponent of greatly expanded U.S. foreign aid and other government programs (including debt cancellation) to alleviate the dire plight in the world of HIV/AIDS, malaria, abject poverty, and other issues. In a speech at Georgetown University, Bono altered his economic and political views and declared that only capitalism can end poverty. 'Aid is just a stopgap,' he said. 'Commerce [and] entrepreneurial capitalism take more people out of poverty than aid. We need Africa to become an economic powerhouse.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBono: “Capitalism takes more people out of poverty than aid”

How Gamers Could Save the (Real) World

"Three years ago, game designer and author Jane McGonigal argued that saving the human race is going to require a major time investment—in playing video games. 'If we want to solve problems like hunger, poverty, climate change, global conflict, obesity, I believe that we need to aspire to play games online for at least 21 billion hours a week [up from 3 billion today], by the end of the next decade,' she said in a TED talk. Her message was not ignored—and it has indirectly contributed to the formation of something called the Internet Response League (IRL). The small group has a big goal: to harness gamers’ time and use it to save lives after disasters, natural or otherwise." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Gamers Could Save the (Real) World

Startups destroy more jobs than they create – unless they’re tech companies

"While private sector business creation fell 9 percent between 1980 and 2011, the birth rate of new tech businesses was 69 percent higher in 2011 than it was in 1980, according to the report. Over the same period of time, the job-creation rate of those young tech firms – aged between 1 and 5 years old – was twice as robust as the average rate for firms in the rest of the private sector. That’s partly due to what the report cites as the 'up-or-out' dynamic: tech startups tend to either fail quickly or grow rapidly." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStartups destroy more jobs than they create – unless they’re tech companies

It’s Up to You, Entrepreneurs: Brad Feld on the Rise of Global Startup Communities

"It’s a practically a social movement, and a movement needs a theorist. That’s Brad Feld. In his by-the-bootstraps guide, the 2012 book Startup Communities, Feld laid out a guru-ish, four-point plan for how to create a growing mass of startup companies. But his rules boil down to just one: entrepreneurs must be the 'leaders.' Everyone else—universities, governments, investors—are 'feeders' that, though important, can’t kick-start a startup community on their own. Feld says if even fewer than a dozen established entrepreneurs team up and get serious that nearly any city from Detroit to Cape Town can create a meaningful startup sector." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIt’s Up to You, Entrepreneurs: Brad Feld on the Rise of Global Startup Communities