I’ve been fascinated with Dubai since they started direct flights from SF and advertising them heavily. At first I thought it was kind of a mid-east Las Vegas: vast stretches of ridiculous urban development in the middle of a desert. I think the reality is much, much different.
Every evening, the hundreds of thousands of young […]

So protesting stuff is a matter of tradition in San Francisco. There’s all kinds, from the ones you don’t hear about to the massive market street demonstrations that properly get permits to shut down lanes and allow buses to be rerouted. My favorite/most hated variety are the type that take obscure issues and foist them […]

*Saves up down payment for giant SUV*

I’ve been taking a recent look at the issues and effects of infrastructure in countries, piqued by a recent NPR rant about how this country has neglected its infrastructure. The commentator argued that development of everything from improved roads to high speed rail will remake the country’s potential for development in the future. Here we […]

“Decades from now, those looking back at the start of the century will understand that Seasteading was an obvious step towards encouraging the development of more efficient, practical public-sector models around the world,” Thiel said in a statement.
Seasteading in the ocean. While the quasi-sovereign statehood part is probably really attractive to some (I won’t argue […]

For anyone who’s seen Style Wars (watch it if you haven’t), this should be an interesting read:
Shepard was apologetic for pasting over MARTY, saying, “I don’t like to go over people ever, however, I feel Obama being elected is very important to everyone’s future including MARTY’s. It was not intended to be disrespectful of him, […]

But this isn’t the sort of thing I want to read while feeling bad for a dude who just got killed in fistfight at the ball park:
“Anthony was very loved and very spoiled,” his father said. “I did things for him I probably shouldn’t have. I bought him an Infiniti G35 sedan just for being […]

They’re about to get a Haliburton sized contract: Sodliers use silly string to detect trip wires

They’re nuts, really nuts. However, the linked article contains the best line I’ve seen in print in a long time: “Having experienced the futility of petitioning international leaders through mass nudity before the Iraq war, the pair decided to ramp up their tactics.” Enjoy.

This snippet from an interview with Steve Jobs in Newsweek made me laugh:
Microsoft has announced its new iPod competitor, Zune. It says that this device is all about building communities. Are you worried?
In a word, no. I’ve seen the demonstrations on the Internet about how you can find another person using a Zune and give […]