Knives on Planes – an Astonishingly Foolish TSA Decision

I usually don’t jump too deeply into politics here but the TSA decision to allow small knives on airplanes is simply incomprehensible. I live in NYC, I was here when 9-11 happened. I don’t ever want to experience that again.

Perhaps we’ll never see a coordinated attack on our air transportation system in the same way, but for the sake of the cabin crews alone – who are spearheading the opposition to this totally illogical decision – we owe it anyone working in the airline industry to keep potential weapons out of the air.… Continue reading

Meteor Over Russia

Just as we were waiting for close pass of a large meteor today, another unexpected meteor exploded over Siberia, with a sonic boom that lead to breaking glass and injuries of close to a 1,000 people including 34 that had to be hospitalized. Given the love of dashboard-mounted cameras in Russia, there’s plenty of video out there showing the remarkable meteor trail, the explosion, and some of the damage. A good write-up with many of the videos can be found in the Atlantic Wire.… Continue reading

Pope Resigns and Lightning Strikes St. Peter’s Basilica

Okay, just a bizarre coincidence, I know, but it is kind of incredible that a Pope resigns – the first in almost 700 years – and within hours, a bolt of lightning strikes St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. From Gawker:

Alessandro Di Meo, one of two photographers who captured the ominous event on camera, told the BBC he was met with much skepticism after his photo went public.

“I understand that the picture may be incredible,” he said. “Photos of lightning have always been done, but the only difference, in this case, is that it is the right place and at the right time.”

But the cries of “fake” persisted, until video footage of the lightning strike finally emerged (see below). 

But you have to wonder what people would have thought 700 years back – today it is a cry of “It’s Photoshopped!” Back then, it would have meant something entirely different.… Continue reading

NYC Stories – Runaway Goat and Goat Herder

NYC is a city stories and the other night offered another of those “only in New York” moments – a runaway goat in Brooklyn that is eventually caught by police and a hospital security guard working at Interfaith Medical Center who was once a goat herder in West Africa. Details from The Gothamist.

… Continue reading

Search Engine Map of the United States Using Autocomplete

Here’s a whimsical map of the United States done through Yahoo! Search with the autocomplete feature on. It gives a you a sense of what people say – and look for – when it comes to typing in the name of a specific State in a search engine. Google’s results are a little different, but not that far off.

Done over on the FlipCollective, here’s a description of how this autocomplete map of the United States was put together:

The following map is based on search engine autocomplete results.

… Continue reading

Gun Violence in United States Cities

Since we had the Congressional hearings today with the incredible testimony of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, it’s worthwhile looking at a map of gun violence in United States cities compared to the rates in other countries. I am a realist here – I don’t see a reason for high capacity clips and assault rifles but the data is clear that most gun violence is due to handguns. NYC Police Commissioner Ray Kelley was on CNN tonight and admitted as much – shootings here would drop less than 3% with a ban on assault rifles as it’s concealed handguns that are the weapon of choice.… Continue reading

It’s Cold in New York

If you live in New York or much of the United States, you’ve noticed the weather this week – temperatures (in Fahrenheit) down near single digits at night. Having to sleep in the living room of my small West Village apartment with its leaky windows (I’m having issues with the ceiling in my bedroom – long story) it’s been one of those pile-every-blanket-you-have-on-the-bed kind of weeks.

But temperatures now pale in comparison to what people endured in the 19th century. Ice regularly blocked the rivers, and ice bridges formed (or were built) by enterprising New Yorkers on a regular basis.… Continue reading

Funny Images from the Inauguration

Watching the Inauguration, one thing was undeniably clear: we live in a world awash in technology, where every moment is a media moment, where everyone carries a camera and digital video device through their smart phone. You almost have to wonder how people survived earlier inaugurations where the only cameras were in the hands of the credentialed press corp.

What would Jefferson and Adams had done if they could have put aside their quill pens and picked up Smart phones?… Continue reading

The Pace of Technology Change

On the pace of Technology change, by Kevin Kelley, posted over at PopTECH:

Five hundred years ago, technologies were not doubling in power and halving in price every eighteen months. Waterwheels were not becoming cheaper every year. A hammer was not easier to use from one decade to the next. Iron was not increasing in strength. The yield of corn seed varied by the season’s climate, instead of improving each year. Every 12 months, you could not upgrade your oxen’s yoke to anything much better than what you already had. 

Whatever you learn today, you will need to relearn tomorrow.… Continue reading

The Flood of Tributes for Aaron Swartz

Even if you didn’t who Aaron Swartz was before his suicide the other day, you probably do now. A tech prodigy (co-developer of RSS code and the website Reddit) and thoughtful young activist who fought to fulfill the real potential of our communications revolution – who Lawrence Lessig called an “incredible soul” – Swartz was facing up to 35 years in jail and millions in fines for taking documents via MIT’s network from the non-profit JSTOR repository. JSTOR was willing to settle; it seems that MIT was not.… Continue reading