Technology

EPA Issues 'State of the Environment' Photo Challenge

The Environmental Protection Agency is crowdsourcing a massive photo project to update a 40-year old agency project known as 'Documerica', which includes images of American environmental problems and everyday life.

January 9, 2012 - Network World

More Meter Revenue But Fewer Parking Tickets Issued

SF Park is an outstanding success when measured by 'ticket anxiety'; i.e. the new program allows motorists to reduce the likelihood of being ticketed by making payment easier and allowing for longer parking stays, thus avoiding a $55-65 citation.

January 9, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

The Challenges of Building A House on Mars

Because of the relative motions of Earth and Mars, the pioneering astronauts who touch down on the Red Planet will remain there for a year and a half. For this reason, NASA has already started experimenting with a habitat fit for life on Mars.

January 9, 2012 - Txchnologist

Shopping Center Tracking System Raises Privacy Concerns

A new technology enables pedestrian behavior and flow to be monitored continuously using mobile phone technology. Its use in US and UK shopping centers has consumer rights activists worried.

January 9, 2012 - The Guardian

The Best Paper Map of the United States

Mapmaker David Imus spent 2 years creating the best 3x4-foot paper wall map you'll ever see.

January 8, 2012 - Slate

Want Your City to Thrive? Get More Bandwidth

Jobs of the future will be located in areas with some of the fastest bandwidth in the world -- and American is in sorry shape, writes columnist Thomas Friedman in The New York Times.

January 5, 2012 - The New York Times

European Study: Cycling, Not Electric Cars Are Key To Emissions Reduction

Emissions would be reduced 25% if Europeans adopted the Danish cycling habit, a new study reports. The ECF warns politicians it would be a mistake to invest heavily in technological solutions like electric cars.

January 2, 2012 - The Guardian

Can the 'Wikipedia of Maps' Challenge Google?

Google starts charging for its maps, and an open source alternative -- with support from Microsoft -- begins to challenge Google's dominance.

December 29, 2011 - MIT Technology Review

NewsHour Interview With 'Quest' Author Daniel Yergin

Noted energy expert Daniel Yergin has written "The Quest" as an update to his landmark 1991 book, "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power" to capture changes in the oil industry. Full transcript and video of NewsHour interview available.

December 25, 2011 - PBS NewsHour

Urban Eye Candy: Best City Time Lapse Videos

Eric Jaffe at Atlantic Cities assembles his collection of the best time lapse videos of cities.

December 24, 2011 - Atlantic Cities

Follow the Music... In Central Park

Brothers Hays and Ryan Holladay team up with Brooklyn-based developer, Bradley Feldman, to create a "location-aware album" app for Central Park.

December 23, 2011 - ASLA's The Dirt blog

First Look at Cornell's Winning $2 Billion Tech Campus

New details and a visualization from Cornell University's winning proposal to create a "game-changing" applied sciences and technology campus on New York's Roosevelt Island.

December 22, 2011 - BetaBeat

CA HSR: A Speed Too Fast?

LA to SF in 2 hrs, 40 mins? That promise in the proposition that voters approved in 2008 could be the train's undoing, as to keep that schedule it will require more expensive design, including viaducts and tunnels, than would otherwise necessitate.

December 22, 2011 - Los Angeles Times

Not An Inexpensive Bike Lane

Adding a pedestrian/bike lane to the 'west span' of the Bay Bridge won't come on the cheap: $550 million is the current estimate. The east span lane, from Yerba Buena Island to Oakland, will be included in the new bridge due to open in late 2013.

December 20, 2011 - Contra Costa Times

Environmental Devastation From Russia's Oil Drilling Considered Routine

It's on the scale of a Deepwater Horizon spill every 2 months - except that it's considered the cost of doing business. Aging pipes, lax oversight and inclement weather all combine to make an estimated 5 million tons of annual spillage.

December 20, 2011 - AP via Yahoo Finance

Robot Roadbuilders of the Future

In 1958, it seemed all but inevitable that giant tree-chomping, asphalt-pouring machines would roam across the countryside leaving gleaming interstate highways in their wake.

December 17, 2011 - PaleoFuture

Good News/Bad News For GM's Volt

October saw the first time the plug-in hybrid Volt outsell the all-electric Leaf; Consumer Reports rates Volt owners the most satisfied, but the car's potential to catch on fire is being investigated, and the $7,500 EV tax credit is under attack.

December 16, 2011 - The Detroit News

High-Speed Rail Project Faces Opposition

In California, a recent poll, according to Charles Chieppo, brought bad news stating that 53% of the states voters approved a $9.9 billion bond three years ago, but of those polled, 64% support a re-vote, and 59% would vote no if they had the chance.

December 14, 2011 - Governing

Tiger III Grant Funds Awarded to Streetcar Project

In Cincinnati, Ohio, the "shovel-ready" Streetcar project has been awarded 10.9 million dollars in grant funding, according to Jenny Kessler, to "restore the project to its original aim of connecting the Uptown and Downtown employment centers."

December 14, 2011 - Urban Cincy

Banning Cell Phone Use by Drivers Nationwide

The National Transportation Safety Board's recommendation is voluntary - it is up to the states to enact them into law. The CA state senator responsible for the ban on talking on hand-held cell phones and texting called it a 'political nonstarter'.

December 14, 2011 - The New York Times - Business Day - Technology

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

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