“The tyranny of the ribbon” is America’s infrastructure problem

American Crumbling Infrastructure

Look at this chart, courtesy of here: That’s terrifying, no? Now look at this chart, courtesy of the same place: Now keep that “$16.5 billion” figure in your head and look at this third chart: Hm. 

Mexico City is apparently building a massive, squid-esque airport

Look at this thing. It’s described as “X-Shape,” but it really does kind of look like a squid or other sea creature. Mexico City is the ninth-largest city in the world, and this thing is apparently going to cost $9… Continue Reading

The AstroDome could become the new High Line

Harris County judge Ed Emmett seemingly has a good deal of power in the Houston area. That’s relevant, because he “absolutely opposes” demolishing the AstroDome, which basically hasn’t been consistently used in years. People have been discussing the fate of the… Continue Reading

Estonia is a small country in northern Europe that has about as many people as Hawaii; it became a global leader in technology, though. Here’s the valuable lesson for the world.

Estonia, a former Soviet republic, is now often considered one of the leading digital centers of the world (some call it “E-Stonia” as a result). People vote online, people do their tax returns in moments via mobile (and get their… Continue Reading

We love to talk about drones and Amazon. But what if drones could really help Africa?

First off, to anyone that actually reads this thing, apologies for not blogging since last Wednesday; I was at a conference and ’twas hard to sit down and compose some posts. I’ll be at similar conferences twice in April, so… Continue Reading

I-81 runs 855 miles from Knoxville to Canada. But one 1.4-mile stretch in Syracuse, NY could be a window to the future.

Fun fact: Dwight Eisenhower’s vision for the interstate system actually came from some roads he saw in Germany while a general. Communication lines got a bit crossed, though, and he didn’t actually realize interstates would run through cities until a few years… Continue Reading