“After the Great Recession, the economic winds shifted. Before the financial crisis, the landscape favored Phoenix and hindered Pittsburgh. Since, the trends of urban change flipped. Quality trumps quantity.”
Category: ideas
When Ben Franklin Reinvented The Alphabet
“It was the ultimate test of Franklin’s scholarship and polymathy, a phonetic alphabet designed to have a ‘more natural Order,’ than the existing system. … Franklin was confident that his new alphabet would easier to learn and, once learned, would drastically reduce bad spelling.”
Want Safer Streets? Try Removing Traffic Lights, Curbs
“The more nuanced environment slowed down drivers, and the intermingling demanded communication using body language and eye contact. Accidents decreased, traffic moved steadily. The concept — called “naked streets” or “shared space” — has been expanding across Europe, and is slowly, tentatively, making its way to American shores. It’s like 1910 all over again.”
Conflicted About Big Data
“We’re still early in Big Data, and enterprises rightly suspect that Big Data isn’t some magic pixie dust that immediately yields insights into how much to charge, where to market, etc. Big Data can help, but it’s not The Answer.”
The Man Trying To Build A Human Brain
“I’m very pragmatic. The question is, what’s the minimum I need to know about the brain to reconstruct all of it?”
Watches: They’re Still Going, Increasingly As Complex Pieces Of Art
“Eight hundred ninety-one parts–each hand-finished to a tolerance of one hundredth of a millimeter–mesh to measure and display everything from the phases of the moon to an interesting but inessential equation used to account for the discrepancy between mechanical time and the time kept by the sun.”
Reveling In Luxury – And Sometimes In The Puritan Comeuppance It Can Bring
“Much as we may enjoy the spectacle of money, we usually prefer it to be accompanied by sentimental lessons about how there are more important things. We like cautionary tales about the dangers of greed and reassuring distinctions about the sources and uses of wealth.”
What Will Big Data Do For, And To, All Of Us?
“All cops carry smartphones and tablet computers to access the web-based prediction program while on patrol. They are encouraged to spend time in the marked zones whenever possible. Clark can tell many stories about how his officers have caught burglars and thieves red-handed in the predicted zones.”
25 Years On, Does Prozac Harm Or Inspire Creativity?
“The worry for artists is that in banishing their black dogs they are also dousing the flames of inspiration, blunting the edge of their genius.”
Artificial Intelligence Computers Could Begin Taking Over For Lawyers
“Software tools are already important in the legal world, especially for big cases like company mergers, where algorithms help people comb through vast piles of documents. But the application of artificial intelligence to the law promises to go beyond document mining. It aims to let automated systems handle arguments where the logic is not clear.”