Events

CATO institute fellow Steve Hanke and Johns Hopkins physics professor Dick Henry advocate eliminating time zones: The plan was strikingly simple. Rather than try to regulate a variety of time zones all around the world, we should instead opt for something far easier: Let's destroy all these time zones and instead stick with one big "Universal Time." While it may ultimately simplify our lives, the concept would require some big changes to the way we think about time. As the clocks would still be based...

Software developer Todd Schneider has analyzed 22 million CitiBikes trips (the New York equivalent of Chicago's Divvy). He's even got some cool animations: If you stare at the animation for a bit, you start to see some trends. My personal favorite spots to watch are the bridges that connect Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan. In the morning, beginning around 8 AM, you see a steady volume of bikes crossing from Brooklyn into Manhattan over the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges. In the middle of the...

I haven't had a moment to blog this weekend, but wow, what a major political event yesterday. Justice Scalia died suddenly on Saturday, and almost immediately Senate Republicans said they won't allow any nominee from President Obama to come to a vote. As Josh Marshall points out, this had no purpose save one: In a typically insightful Twitter spree last night, David Frum noted that "McConnell’s precipitate statement [that he would refuse to hold a vote on any Obama appointee] is wrong not only on...

I'm debating what new area I should explore, assuming I have the time: SignalR, maybe by making the Weather Now home page auto-update? Python, maybe by putting together some scripts that use a new API I create for The Daily Parker? Bootstrap, maybe by overhauling the Inner Drive Technology corporate website? Raspberry Pi, maybe by making a cute little device that responds to a Weather Now API? I'm thinking about a few side projects, obviously. And this article on new "universal remote" apps in...

Some of my libertarian-minded friends have circulated an article written by Cato Institute senior fellow Daniel J. Mitchell, an anti- flat-tax advocate, claiming that Cam Newton will pay a 200% tax to California on his Superbowl earnings. Mitchell quotes "a Certified Public Accountant" writing in a Forbes article at length, ending with this legerdemain: If the Panthers ... lose [the Superbowl, Newton] will only net another $51,000. The Panthers will have about 206 total duty days during 2016, including...