I’m in the midst of a move, down to the wire and still on the ticking clock so I'm posting a few takeaways (for now) on the two
Congress Gets a Privacy Date with Facebook’s Zuck
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will face the House Energy and Commerce Committee next week to answer questions about the platform's practices with users' data. Apparently, he's concluded that testifying
Privacy Panel to Question Facebook’s CEO
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he would be "happy" to testify before Congress about Facebook's data privacy after revelations that it let third parties work with data
Despite Facebook’s Latest Mea Culpa on Your Data, It has a ‘Section 230’ Problem
Facebook to world: Sorry. World to Facebook: Doesn't cut it. Facebook news has become a cottage industry of bad PR headlines since the revelation that the company’s leaky
Where Was That Crack Before FIU Pedestrian Bridge Collapse?
Where was the crack that an engineer reported to the construction crew working on the pedestrian bridge that collapsed at Miami's Florida International University? Now that emergency responders
FIU’s Pedestrian Bridge Collapse Probe, ABC and Safety
After the 950-ton pedestrian bridge collapse at Miami's Florida International University Thursday, news reports are counting between six and seven fatalities so far and scores of injuries since
Infrastructure Plans in Need of Finance Ideas
President Donald Trump is set to highlight an infrastructure plan among the topics he’s expected to bring up during his first State of the Union address on Tuesday,
Alexa and AI at CES, in Our Cars and Ovens
Ina Fried of Axios Login has an enviable and fun gig this week, covering the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where the latest hot tech is
When Sensors Met Artificial Intelligence
I used to think that 2014 was the year that Artificial Intelligence crested in the public's awareness with the release of Amazon's voice-activated assistant, Alexa, and others like
An Afflicted News Media in the Trump Era
Arthur Gregg Sulzberger, the 37-year-old publisher of the New York Times, who just took the reins from his father Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., posted a New Year's Day op-ed
Setting the Lens on a $1-Trillion Infrastructure Plan
More details on the Trump Administration's infrastructure plan came out just before Christmas. It’s setting up hopes that Congress will pass a bi-partisan infrastructure package in 2018. If
A Merry Christmas Season
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a very Happy New Year! For friends and family near and far. For veterans serving and away from family, for all workers on
With Tax Cut Bill Signed, a Shift to Infrastructure
It's official: President Donald J. Trump put his signature on the landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs bill Friday that represents $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for some 80
Amtrak 501 Derailment and Positive Train Control
[Updated 12/19/17] Excessive speed details are emerging after the Amtrak 501 train derailment near Olympia, Washington Monday. And it's sparked a flurry of articles about whether Positive Train
Disney, Fox and Net Neutrality: Streaming Bits and Content Delivery
[Updated 12/16/17] Two very big developments hit the news Thursday that tell us as much about the state of media, entertainment, news and culture as they do the
Would-Be Terror Attacker Charged With Terrorism
The latest on the would-be suicide bomber who reportedly botched his attempted terror attack: Per the NYPD: UPDATE: Akayed Ullah, the suspect arrested in yesterday’s terror attack in
Ahead of Tax Reform Bill, a Revving Economy
All eyes on are on Congress this week as House and Senate conference committees hammer out differences in their Tax Reform/Tax Cut bills and aim to pass historic
Trump Declares So.Cal Emergency; Wildfires Seen From Space
Forecasters say the Santa Ana wind event whipping up the destructive blazes that leveled homes, highways and major swaths of Southern California infrastructure is the strongest of its
Santa Ana Winds Whip up Wildfires: L.A. Calls for Evacuations
Wildfires raging in southern California have destroyed hundreds of homes; others in the Bel-Air area are reportedly ablaze. The morning commute looked like a scene from a disaster
$14 billion LA Natural Gas Plant Shelved. Gulf Region Shrugs.
[Updated]: The current glut in natural gas and lowered prices for the commodity is driving a South African energy firm to shutter plans for a Liquified Natural Gas
Koch Brothers Part of Time’s Sale to Meredith
[Updates prior version]: Meredith Corporation made its acquisition of Time, Inc., official Monday, in a deal valued at about $2.8 billion. It includes $650 million in preferred equity
Why Net Neutrality Rules Are on the Block
The Federal Communications Commission made its plans to undo the Obama-era "Net Neutrality" rules official Tuesday, saying it will roll back the regulations that govern how internet service
DoJ Sues to Block AT&T-Time Warner Vertical Giga-Deal
AT&T and the Department of Justice are headed to federal court over antitrust issues with its Time Warner merger. The stakes look as high as 1984, when the DoJ
Can New York’s Mass Transit System Get Any Worse?
[Updated 11/19/17] This "About New York" column by Jim Dwyer in the New York Times about the woeful experience that the New York City subway is these days
The Shale Effect: Shell Starts $6-billion PA Ethane Cracker Plant
Shell Chemicals has broken ground on a $6-billion ethane cracker plant in Potter Township in Pennsylvania's Beaver County north of Pittsburgh, which is expected to create about 6,000 construction jobs
No Toll Hikes in N.Y. (at Least for 2018)
The New York Thruway's budget is holding the line on toll hikes in its 2018 budget. The Times Herald-Record, reporting from Albany on the authority, says: "The New
Facebook’s Founder: Platform Built for ‘Dopamine’ Hits to Brain
It's hard to ignore the comments about social media coming from one of the founders of Facebook, Sean Parker, in a recent interview with Axios's Mike Allen. He's
California: Praying For Rain, Calm Winds
California's wildfires, day eight: More than 40,000 people are out of their homes, reportedly down from 100,000; the death toll is at 41, mostly in Sonoma and Napa
Calif. Wildfires Leveling Homes, Infrastructure
[Updated 10/14/17] California's wildfires have reportedly claimed 36 lives in Napa and Sonoma County's wine country after laying waste to homes, businesses and utilities with a swift and
Nicholas Carr on Smartphones: They ‘Hijack Our Minds’
Nicholas Carr has done it again. The best-selling author and leading light chronicling technology and digital media's impact on our way of life, our way of thinking—our brain
Fun Times with AOL Instant Messenger
The news this week that AOL would be ending its Instant Messaging service after a 20-year run deserves a comment or two on its cultural impact during its
Getting it Right When Covering the Gun Issue
Editors in one of the newsrooms I worked in often joked that we should sound a warning alarm when reporters start to do math. This was our way
Puerto Rico’s Debt Wiped out? Not so Fast (Updated)
President Donald Trump's comments Tuesday about Puerto Rico's $72-billion debt being "wiped out" sent bond markets into a tizzy Wednesday, and, in the process, got the issue of
A Day of Carnage in Las Vegas, and Selflessness
[Updated to reflect casualties and injured] This story doesn't easily slot into any topics that SL2R blog covers, but when the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history happens
Soldiering on With Puerto Rico as it Struggles to Recover
[UPDATED 10/1] After documenting the scale of the infrastructure damage to Southeast Texas and Florida from hurricanes Harvey and Irma, respectively, as a way to keep up with
After Mexico City’s 7.1 Quake, Delayed Collapses
A week after Mexico City's magnitude 7.1 earthquake, with the heartbreaking search and rescue for children in a school whose roof pancaked, and over 326 people dead from
Puerto Rico: ‘Irma Gave Us a Break, Maria Destroyed Us’
[UPDATED SEPT. 22] Puerto Rico is an island without electricity today after Hurricane Maria pummeled the U.S. territory on Wednesday when the Category 4 storm made landfall. The
Before and After Irma
Amazing doesn't quite sum up the sheer power of Hurricane Irma, as the world watches the former Category 5 hurricane continue wreaking its destruction in the southeast after
Irma’s Scale and Fury Heads for Florida
After watching Hurricane Harvey's devastation in southeast Texas last week, we thought we'd seen a storm to top all storms for years to come. The initial damage estimates
New Lane Debut for Tappan Zee, New Toll-Hike Chatter
The Tappan Zee bridge project in New York's Westchester County is scheduled to open its westbound lane to traffic on Friday, Aug. 25th, according to the New York
A ‘New York’ Tower in San Francisco? Not Skinny Enough.
At 61 stories high, the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco now dominates the city's skyline. And not all San Franciscans are happy about it. One local architecture critic
Foxconn’s Wisconsin Plans = 10,000 Construction Jobs
Electronics giant Foxconn Technology Group, a major product supplier to Apple, Microsoft and Intel, made news this week when it announced a $10 billion expansion of its operations
Construction Outlook ’17: ‘Still Has Legs’ but Uncertainty Creeps In
The U.S. construction industry's current expansion "still has legs" and is looking at 3% overall growth in 2017 — and 5% if you take out the more volatile
Too Late for Newspapers vs. the Google/Facebook Duopoly?
[Updated 7/11/17]: A 2,000-member newspaper alliance is asking Congress for a pass on antitrust laws so it can engage in a kind of collusion to counter the dominance
A Spectacular Speech in Poland on Western Values
Taking in President Donald Trump's speech in Poland on Thursday, I was reminded of my early childhood years in Germany where my father, a military pilot, was stationed
iPhone 10 Years After: Jobs Loved to Change the World
Of all the retrospectives in the tech press this week about the iPhone's decade of cultural impact 10 years after its launch on June 29, and the backstory
CNN Producer: Trump-Russia Story ‘Bull****’ for Ratings
It's hard to keep up with the troubles at CNN these days, what with a failed hit piece against an associate of President Trump, which it had to
Wanted: Apprentices for Next-Gen Training
Germany is legendary for its apprenticeship and trade school programs in partnership with industry that confer high-level skill-sets on graduates and major earning power in manufacturing and skilled
Amazon the Everything Store to Buy Whole Foods
Amazon the everything/media/grocery/potentially collaboration store made waves today when it announced a $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market Inc., which roiled the stocks of retailers who sell
Big Finish to Infrastructure Week: Easing Permitting (with a Thud)
President Trump closed out his administration's Infrastructure Week with a speech at the Department of Transportation that had all the elements of a solid event: Great speech-writing, a
A Week’s Worth of Infrastructure, a Generation’s Worth of Fixes
The Trump Administration is reportedly putting the President's Bully Pulpit to work this week with a series of announcements and tours focusing on critical infrastructure issues across the
Drone Swarms in Action
To watch the fascinating video of a drone swarm released by the Department of Defense this week is to see life not only imitate science-fiction movies, but also
FMI Sees 6% Construction Growth in 2017
FMI, a management consulting and investment banking firm focused on engineering and construction, infrastructure and the built environment. has come out with its forecast for non-residential construction for
Dodge Data Sees Positive Outlook for Trump Infrastructure Agenda
I was thrilled to have been invited to construction data firm Dodge Data & Analytics' Construction Outlook update in New York City recently. Dodge prepared the update to
New House Bills Floated to Fund Infrastructure
Updated: E&ENews is reporting of revived bi-partisan efforts in the House to introduce new bills to fund infrastructure spending. "Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the ranking member on the