In Irrational Markets, Bitcoin Mining Uses– And Abuses- Local Power
Economic development is good, right? Well, perhaps not so much if it involves infuriating local residents with noise or point source air or thermal pollution.
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Tech
Amazon, Lifeline or Scourge For Retail-Starved, Rural Communities?
Amazon is committed to a money-losing strategy to try and cop rural market share. But it’s not exactly a great deal for consumers, either. Looking at some examples from Maine and an example from California, we can learn a bit about the challenges facing retail in rural communities as well as how Amazon is (maybe) thinking about this issue.
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Flashback: Jump Raven, A Forgotten 1994 Video Game, Predicts 2021.
Battling techno-nazis in the climate change-flooded streets of New York City in this largely forgotten 1994 video game, and remembering the glory days of 90’s optimism and shareware.
Read MoreBitcoin and the Energy Illogic of Cryptocurrency
The price collapse of Bitcoin today raises some valuable questions about the value– and environmental impact- of continuing to use it and mine it.
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NPC21: The Rapid Evolution of Virtual Conferencing
Nat is attending the National Planning Conference “in” Boston this week, and reflecting on growth in the planning field alongside leaps and bounds in progress made in virtual conferencing.
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Webinar: Tech To Reduce Guesswork for Safer Streets
Traffic technology has improved by leaps and bounds in recent decades. While the ultimate solutions to ending traffic violence must come with better street designs and a reduced reliance on single-occupant automobiles, there are some interesting developments in technology that are allowing better modeling to understand driver behavior, intersection safety, and more. We learned about it from a webinar co-hosted by Canadian tech company Miovision.
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Tech Launched A Big Push To Fix Cities. What Happened?
Sidewalk Labs (Google), AirBnB, and Y Combinator all launched ambitious initiatives to build the technologically advanced, equitable, sustainable cities of tomorrow. What happened?
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Mispricing the Chevrolet Bolt, And Other Strange Corporate Decisions
The Chevrolet Bolt originally sold poorly. It’s now selling well, but at an average of a 30% discount off its full MSRP. Maybe that suggests it wasn’t priced right to begin with.
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Driven: The Race To Create the Autonomous Car, by Alex Davies
Weekend Read. This book, Driven: The Race To Create the Autonomous Car, is worth reading for anyone who is interested
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Did Cities Ever Need Tech, Anyway? Seattle vs. the Post-COVID Economy
Long a sleepy seaport town, Seattle was enjoying a fraught, decade-long flirtation with explosive growth– and inequality. Will COVID bust up the party forevermore?
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