publication

Beijing's subway: A lesson for San Francisco

Beijing's subway is a little grimy, the air conditioning is fairly weak, and during rush hours it's like being packed into canned ham.

But it's far superior to the public transportation options in San Francisco and San Jose, the so-called hubs of the tech world.

Unlike in San Francisco, the trains show up on time. Every two to three minutes a new car shows up during rush hours. On a Sunday, you might wait five minutes. It doesn't go everywhere, but the line is being expanded. All the station signs are also in English, and you … Read more

Say what? The YouTube-ing of presidential debates

Hillary Clinton won't be the next lonelygirl15, but there's no question that she and all the other 2008 presidential candidates will have their turns on YouTube.

The question that has been posed, CNET News.com reports, is whether the Democratic and Republican National Committees will allow video of the candidates' debates into the public domain.

"In 2008, this will really be a year of YouTube, where the little guy can hold politicians accountable for their words and that's why we need presidential debate content to be in the public domain or Creative Commons, and not captive … Read more

Python loose in your office? Never fear, we're here to help

You've probably heard the news: for several days, employees of Google's NYC headquarters were "terrorized" by a snake on the loose in the office. (A "Googler," whose identity shall remain anonymous, kept the 3-foot-long ball python named "Kaiser" in his cubicle. That is just so Google.) Luckily, a member of the building staff managed to find the snake last night. "Member of the building staff," yeah right. They totally had to call in Samuel L. Jackson for it.

But this should be a wake-up call for all of us. You … Read more

L.A., beware: It's 'Scarface' on wheels

As if Southern California highways aren't perilous enough, drivers will now get to duck a tricked-out Dodge Charger SRT8 promoting that manliest of games, "Scarface: The World is Yours." The car (cough, publicity stunt) is being driven around by Roger Lloyd, chief operating officer of retail video game franchise Play N Trade. Images from the game digitally wrap around the car, and it has a Sony PlayStation 2 and wireless controls. Eyes on the road, Lloyd.

Yeah, we know promo cars aren't that unusual. But we can't help but wonder which other tech execs we'… Read more