Congestion in New York (and Elsewhere)
Just last week I wrote that there are legitimate concerns about Uber. Using congestion as the reason to limit the company’s expansion while ordering a study seems wrong and exactly the kind of political move that smacks of corruption. Given [...] Read more
Debating the Gig Economy: Going Past Industrial Thinking
Yesterday Hilary Clinton mentioned the “gig economy” in a speech. She said This is of course a topic I have been speaking and writing about a lot. Like Fred, I think that this is a discussion we need to have. [...] Read more
Equating Uber With Transport Innovation Considered Harmful
There were two tweets about Uber recently that I found myself disagreeing with somewhat. Paul Graham tweeted And on the same day Chris Sacca (who is an investor in Uber) tweeted What do I not like about them? Equating Uber [...] Read more
Sailing Faster Than The Wind
Last week I had the opportunity to cross something off my bucket list: sailing faster than the wind. Now at first this sounds like a preposterous idea – if the wind is pushing you, then how could you go faster [...] Read more
Grexit
I remember well debating the concept a single European currency with my Dad when I was growing up in Germany long before the Euro was actually introduced. As a teenager I was fervently in favor and he was deeply skeptical. [...] Read more
Choosing Unfettered General Purpose Computing over Strong Privacy
Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds but the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote goes on to refer to Pythagoras, Socrates and Newton and so may it doesn’t refer to logical consistency but rather to the ability to learn from [...] Read more
Apple on Privacy: What About Limits on General Purpose Computing?
I have been meaning to write this post ever since I read about Tim Cook’s speech on how Apple protects its customers’ privacy. Since then there have been posts arguing that Google’s (and others’) approach has merits because it allows [...] Read more
La Ruche qui dit Oui!
La Ruche qui dit Oui! (the hive that says yes) is a marketplace that connects farmers to people who want farm fresh food in their kitchens and on their tables. We got to know the company last winter when my [...] Read more
Expectations: Your Responsibility
The first week on my first job after college I came into work super early and left super late. At the end of the week my then boss called me into his office and said: “it’s great that you are [...] Read more