At Overlap 08 this past weekend we talked a lot about sustainability in all its forms, including sustaining nature. This was on my mind this morning as I cycled over the Brooklyn Bridge and saw a small video crew capturing some footage of the bridge. Surely, I thought, there’s so much footage of this bridge [...]
There was an explosion in midtown Manhattan yesterday, about 4 blocks from where I was working… The New York Times reported today that New Yorkers were “unnerved” which was certainly the case on the street when it happened. With the constant reminders of terrorism the government scares the shit out of everyone (and gains support [...]
The skinny here is that I’d like to work on correcting the uneven access to Internet jobs (great jobs, btw) by providing education to the disadvantaged. By disadvantaged I mean — here in New York City — mainly blacks and Hispanics, but generally those with lower income. I’m not sure how organizations who provide such [...]
In HBR this month is a rare, methodical (and free) look at the financial effect of online communities via a study of eBay Germany… Over the course of a year, we compared the behavior of community enthusiasts and lurkers with that of the control group. The differences were astonishing. Lurkers and community enthusiasts bid twice [...]
In City Planet, Stewart Brand describes the current massive migration to the world’s cities and the reality of squatter cities. The piece changed the way I understand cities and how the world population is evolving. Here’s some quotes… The growth of cities has led to demographic trends exactly the opposite of what many experts have [...]
Registration is open for the Information: Design, Experience, Access conference happening at the Seattle Public Library, October 23-24, 2006. It looks to be a fun, thought-provoking event.
My business partner Jim just returned from doing a presentation in Turkey. Notable comment: “Istanbul looks more like San Jose than Constantinople.”
“Just as it was important that Broadway not remain in the dark after Sept. 11, it’s important that we start thinking about the future despite all the very depressing news around us.” — Bill Hines, managing partner of a New Orleans law firm, on plans to revive parts of that city quickly. New Orleans was [...]
…are at the 92nd Street Y, along with an impressive roster of classes and events. Start with the list of lectures.
There’s a vestigal bit of elevated railray called the High Line that runs through about 20 blocks of the far west side of Manhattan. A contest to turn it into a park has resulted in the selection of Field Operations and Diller, Scofidio & Renfro who proposed a mixture of concrete paths and gardens. I’ve [...]
My heart breaks when I see newbie tourists in Manhattan. The young woman the other day carrying armloads of luggage in the rain politely asking the cab driver if he drives to Queens. Here’s two tips to avoid the worst: Taxis must drive you anywhere in the five boroughs of New York City, period. The [...]
Despite having found a wonderful community of like minds in New York, I’m always envious of the vibrant new media scene in San Francisco. Last night I crashed a post-seminar drinkfest held by Adaptive Path and finally, randomly, met (in person) Veen, Berry, Steenson, and Blood, among other fine folks. Hopefully Merlin will post his [...]
“There is an assumption about meetings and gatherings that’s so old it’s almost genetic. Conferences ask people to come as passive information gatherers. We’re drawn by big name speakers and then sit and wait for information to flow downwards. Yet when you ask people where they learned and contributed the most, they’ll inevitably say it [...]
Adam recently hooked me up with a friend of his that was tight with all the beatniks I used to hang out with at Rutgers University. We re-lived days of hosting bad radio shows, writing dubious poetry, and playing self-confessional folk music. And yesterday, Michael and I discover we’re from the same town and know [...]