The Technology

Tracking China (3)

4/23/10 •

Forbes published my new China Tracker interactive map last night, and I’ve been pleased with the reception so far. It’s the first map I’ve made that involves animation, and it’s also the first map that I’ve built from scratch using nothing but ActionScript and Python. Here’s how I did it.

Terminal Dysfunction (1)

3/07/10 •

Of JFK Airport’s many faults, which include Odyssian distance from Manhattan and staggering flight delays, none is quite as aggravating as the condition of Delta’s terminal complex.

Terminal 3, which opened in the 1960s as the Pan Am Worldport and managed to escape the following five decades with only minimal improvement, is now festooned with kite-like leak catchers that divert rainwater from the terminal’s crumbling ceiling.

Paterson’s Woes, Seen through Google (2)

2/25/10 •

Nowhere is David Paterson’s impossible election situation better illustrated than in the Google results for his name. Add search engine optimization to the long list of things that New York State’s elected officials can’t seem to get right.

America’s Worst Traffic, And What To Do About It (0)

2/25/10 •

After a couple of years of declining traffic congestion (due first to rising gas prices and then to rising unemployment), traffic congestion seems to be coming back. Growth in economic activity and stimulus-related road construction projects are bringing more people onto the roads and then slowing them down. This brought out a minor tiff between two commenters on the article I wrote for Forbes on the subject.