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Monthly archive for June, 2010
The Morning Dig: What It’s Like to Ride Dubai’s Metro (Video)
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
• A video shows a sped-up ride on the metro train in Dubai. You can watch it above. • With more cars on its road, India has a huge number of traffic fatalities. (NYT) • The U.S. military is using Read more ›
The Construction Industry Is Still Ailing — Call in the Unions!
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Despite its dogged troubles, the construction industry is not going gentle into this good night. And what better organization to take up the industry’s cause than a major union. Enter the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), which is Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Why Overuse of Technology May Be Harmful
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
• A fascinating article examines how being hooked on gadgets has changed how Americans process information, and affected our brains. (NYT) • An article looks at the grim working conditions at the Chinese factories that make many tech products that Read more ›
Are LEED Buildings Filled With Toxic Air (Any More Than Regular Buildings)?
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Amidst all the debate over whether they bring any benefit — not to mention how much they cost — one point may be getting lost: Are LEED buildings in fact safe to live/work in? A new report from the nonprofit Read more ›
World Cup Infrastructure: How Sports Can Supercharge a Nation
Monday, June 7th, 2010
CLICK TO ENLARGE The world (well, nearly every part of the world save the U.S.) is gearing up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This year’s host, South Africa, has the honor of being the first African nation to hold Read more ›
The Morning Dig: What Bike to Work Day Looks Like
Monday, June 7th, 2010
Bike to Work Day – A Growing Movement from Brandon Bloch on Vimeo. • A new video shows Bike to Work Day in Washington, D.C. You can watch it above. • Mayors are leading the way promoting bike paths in Read more ›
The Week in High Speed Rail: Say Hello to the World’s Fastest Train!
Friday, June 4th, 2010
• The fastest train in the world has officially rolled off the assembly line: China’s 380A built by Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., which can go up to 236 mph. (Inhabitat) • In China, the massive HSR expansion isn’t just for Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Jon Stewart Tackles BP
Friday, June 4th, 2010
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c The Spilling Fields www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party • The Daily Show has a funny segment on the oil spill. The video is above. Read more ›
Car-Sharing Gaining Momentum, Maybe Saving the World
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Owning a car has innumerable costs, both for the driver (insurance, gas, parking, maintenance) and for everyone else (traffic, pollution, increased danger on the roads). As more drivers clog the roads every year, the costs of our car-centric society just Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Biden Visits Brooklyn Bridge to Announce New Funding
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
• The Brooklyn Bridge is getting $500 million in federal money to improve it in a variety of ways. (AP) • Car-sharing company ZipCar has filed for an Initial Public (stock) Offering. (AFP) • Was Greece’s massive pre-Olympics infrastructure spending Read more ›
Oil Spill Cleanup Workers to Live in Makeshift ‘Flotels’
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
Even the worst disasters can lead to innovation in the face of necessity. For the aggrieved Gulf Coast, this ingenuity comes in the form of makeshift lodging. The cleanup effort for the oil spill presents an interesting infrastructure dilemma (one Read more ›
Turning Crowded, Inefficient Cities Into ‘Smart Cities,’ the Corporate Way
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
Most cities around the world are ungodly messes. There are exceptions, like Singapore, with its exacting if slightly despotic leader-for-life who sees to it that complex multi-layered municipal systems function with a superhuman efficiency. But the vast majority of the Read more ›
The Morning Dig: Rachel Maddow and NYC Subways
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
• MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow did a great segment on subways in Manhattan; the clip is above. • An article looks at what parking lots might look like in the future. (TIME) • A woman in Utah has sued Google for Read more ›
When Entire City Blocks Collapse: The Guatemalan Sinkhole
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
No matter how strong we build buildings, nature can always bring them down. This picture was taken in Guatemala City yesterday after a massive sinkhole, a natural depression that can form when water-saturated soil becomes too heavy for its base, Read more ›
The Secret Lives of Quasi-Public Agencies
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
This is a guest post by Phineas Baxandall, Senior Analyst for Tax and Budget Policy at U.S. PIRG, Federation of State PIRGs. Toll roads, water systems, transit networks, airports convention centers and other large infrastructure projects are often financed and Read more ›
The Morning Dig: What Will Cities Look Like in the Future?
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
• A YouTube video examines the future of cities. • A look at how Baghdad is changing with the Green Zone. (NYT) • Haitians are getting impatient at the pace of reconstruction after the earthquake. (NYT) • More poor people Read more ›
