The NYPD is doing 360 degree panoramas of crime scenes now. In 2009, to better record crime scenes, the New York City Police Department began using the Panoscan, a camera that creates high-resolution, 360-degree panoramic images. Each panorama takes between 3 to 30 minutes to produce, depending on the available light, and is added to [...]
New York
When police go bad
Okay, is this disturbing to anyone else? As 16 police officers were arraigned at State Supreme Court in the Bronx, incensed colleagues organized by their union cursed and taunted prosecutors and investigators, chanting “Down with the D.A.” and “Ray Kelly, hypocrite.” As the defendants emerged from their morning court appearance, a swarm of officers formed [...]
Why don’t more people live in a most “livable city”?
The Financial Times asks why more people don’t live in places like Vancouver? “Sure, Vancouver is beautiful,” says Kotkin, “but it’s also unaffordable unless you’re on an expense account and your company is paying your rent.” Burdett agrees: “Economically all these cities at the top of the polls are also in the top league.” In [...]
The Worst of Saskatoon
When we moved to Saskatoon in the mid-80s, there was a magazine called Western Living that we received and it listed the Sturdy Stone Centre as one of the ugliest buildings in Western Canada (Moose Jaw’s crushed can was also on that list). I am not a big fan of brutalist architecture either downtown or [...]
The need this Christmas
"The need is greater this year than I’ve ever seen it. One little girl didn’t want anything for herself. She wanted a winter coat for her mother." – "Head Elf" Pete Fontana at New York City’s main post office, who leads a staff of 22 people in sorting 2 million letters in Operation Santa, which [...]
The city as idea incubator
Steven Johnson on why New York has become a growing hub for technology startup companies. As a diverse city that supports countless industries and maverick interests, New York excels at creating those eclectic networks. Subcultures and small businesses generate ideas and skills that inevitably diffuse through society, influencing other groups. As the sociologist Claude Fischer [...]
The Grind of Poverty
"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings." Nelson Mandela This is the third in a series on poverty, homelessness, and a concentration of services in Saskatoon’s inner city. You can find part 1 and part 2 in the [...]
Green jobs to combat poverty
Using federal stimulus money, they are using it to winterize houses, cut down on carbon emissions, and helping people find jobs while doing it. While I really like the idea, the problem is that it is linked to ongoing federal funding, the kind that gets cut when you run massive deficits. Of course at the [...]
Good Business: Comet Skateboards
A cool video on Comet Skateboards and how they moved from Oakland, California to Ithaca, New York and made the transition into their new city and neighborhood by making a commitment to being good neighbors and giving back to the community. It’s a lesson many organizations and some churches could learn.
