August 2008 Archives

The Freakonomics blog has a quorum: "What Is the Future of Suburbia?". Simply put, it presents to group of "smart people" the following question: "What will U.S. suburbs look like in 40 years?"

It's an interesting read. Like several of the experts, I believe the future of suburbia will be significantly impacted by rising oil prices. I think more expensive gasoline will be the death knell for continued suburban/exurban sprawl. Instead we will see higher density growth along public transportation infrastructure ("transit oriented development").

It would be prudent to allocate our public resources accordingly.

It's clear the neocons view the Russian/Georgian conflict as an opportunity to rekindle the Cold War. Meanwhile, it's been comical listening to the right-wing noise machine attempting to blame Senator Obama for the situation.

President Bush's I got a "sense of his [Putin's] soul" comment still haunts this crowd; it makes it much more difficult to vilify Putin when their "serious" commander-in-cheif has been yucking it up with him.

Yesterday Senator McCain said: "In the 21st century, nations don't invade other nations." Today comedian Limbaugh, et al., are framing (and condeming) the conflict as Russia's quest to control oil flows. The irony is overwhelming.

Last year I blogged about the ciclovía in Bogotá, Colombia, asking: "What if Ciclovia caught on in America?"

It appears a form of that has happened, here it is in New York City:

It's interesting how much better the streets look when they are full of people, not noisy vehicles. And look at the smiles.

A little Googling reveals that such events are being held in El Paso, TX, Baltimore, MD, Portland, OR, among other cities.

I hope this movement continues to spread to other cities, including Knoxville.

A segment from the CBS News' Sunday Morning show on "freedom machines":

The piece discusses the increased interest in bicycling that has accompanied higher gasoline prices. I have noticed more people riding on the roads this summer; unfortunately, a few of them appear to have not yet mastered safety rules on riding with traffic.

As a cyclist who rides in a city that essentially has no bike lanes, it's fascinating to see what Portland, OR, has done in establishing a 300-mile bike network. I wonder what kind of cultural changes we could experience in Knoxville if we had a similar commitment from community leaders?

The Sunday Times has a lengthy writeup on an interesting guy: "Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The Prophet of Boom and Doom." It concludes with ten of his life tips (video link):

1. Scepticism is effortful and costly. It is better to be sceptical about matters of large consequences, and be imperfect, foolish and human in the small and the aesthetic.

2. Go to parties. You can't even start to know what you may find on the envelope of serendipity. If you suffer from agoraphobia, send colleagues.

3. It's not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. If possible, tease people who take themselves and their knowledge too seriously.

4. Wear your best for your execution and stand dignified. Your last recourse against randomness is how you act -- if you can't control outcomes, you can control the elegance of your behaviour. You will always have the last word.

5. Don't disturb complicated systems that have been around for a very long time. We don't understand their logic. Don't pollute the planet. Leave it the way we found it, regardless of scientific 'evidence'.

6. Learn to fail with pride -- and do so fast and cleanly. Maximise trial and error -- by mastering the error part.

7. Avoid losers. If you hear someone use the words 'impossible', 'never', 'too difficult' too often, drop him or her from your social network. Never take 'no' for an answer (conversely, take most 'yeses' as 'most probably').

8. Don't read newspapers for the news (just for the gossip and, of course, profiles of authors). The best filter to know if the news matters is if you hear it in cafes, restaurants... or (again) parties.

9. Hard work will get you a professorship or a BMW. You need both work and luck for a Booker, a Nobel or a private jet.

10. Answer e-mails from junior people before more senior ones. Junior people have further to go and tend to remember who slighted them.

Via The Big Picture.