Writing

In New York, Online Updates on Your Subway Ride

City Room looks at how New York City Transit uses Twitter to post service updates, information on weekend maintenance, and even trivia about the nation’s largest subway system. On the agency’s account, @NYCTSubway, service advisories and updates are posted frequently during morning and afternoon rush hour, and customer questions are answered by staff. Supporting an…

iPad Road Trip: Part II

iPad Road Trip: Part II

After a week driving cross-country with an iPad, here are some thoughts on its usefulness: Car Charging – We had an iGo Car Charger and an Apple USB to iPad cable, but neither one was able to charge the iPad, probably because the car’s power sources (cigarette lighter and USB port) didn’t provide sufficient wattage….

iPad Road Trip: Part I

iPad Road Trip: Part I

Hello from Nevada, on day two of a cross-country road trip from San Francisco to New York. This is the first entry here written entirely on an iPad. So what convinced me? TSA Friendly – According to the Transportation Security Administration blog, the iPad doesn’t have to be removed from luggage at airport security checkpoints….

This Year, Health Care Reform

What’s in the health Care Bill? Nancy-Ann DeParle, White House Director of Health Reform, outlined some of the main benefits Americans will start to see this year: This year, children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied health insurance coverage. Once the new health insurance exchanges begin in the coming years, pre-existing condition discrimination…

Pick, Johnston & Kono: History of the London Underground Typeface

Pick, Johnston & Kono: History of the London Underground Typeface

The story of the London Underground typeface is important to urban history because it set the standard for identity and communication in railway systems around the world. It starts with Frank Pick, publicity manager for the London Underground. Pick himself was not a designer, but he understood the importance of good design: Corporate Design, Pick…

Stewart Brand: “Information Wants to be Free. It Also Wants to be Expensive.”

Anyone who does anything with information these days should know this entire quote. Many people know the famous short version: “Information wants to be free.” but the rest of the quote makes those first five words sound naive and utopian. The rest of the quote is what industries from the obvious – media and publishing…

How do Successful Institutions Respond to Disruptive Change?

Joshua-Michéle Ross writes that while there’s no shortage of good ideas to address the decline of the newspaper industry, those ideas can’t go anywhere until media companies address the larger problem hindering their progress: institutional resistance to change. John Puchalla of Moody’s Investors Service published a report in June that illustrates this in terms of…

Connecting Geometrica: ISO 9001 Certification With a Wiki

Gerardo Méndez, quality manager at Geometrica, wrote to tell me about the company’s effort to use a wiki to document their new quality management system. Geometrica designs, manufactures, and installs domes and space frame structures for sports venues, environmental protection, houses of worship, industrial plants, and educational assembly halls. The company is based in Houston,…

Marci Alboher on “Slashing by Necessity” in Your Career

In Slashing by Necessity, Marci Alboher talks about building a slash career – one that involves multiple different roles. A slash career can be a full-time job with some part-time or freelance work on the side, or a combination of part-time, contract, or freelance work that can be as part time or full-time as you…

Nov. 4, 2008: A Moment for History, Change, and the Future

November 4, 2008. This is a moment to remember. I remember wondering when I would see that day that America would have its first black president. Now, this day lives in history as one of the most important in American history – not just modern American history, but the entirety of our nation’s history. “An…