(ˌpaɪəˈnɪərɪŋ ˈspɪrɪt ) noun. a willingness to endure hardship in order to explore new places or try out new things 

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The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics

The latest issue of Works in Progress has a choice essay out on how mathematics built the modern world. As a onetime major in the subject and longtime fan of the purest arena of human inquiry[1], an area that is simultaneously neither an art nor science yet instrumental and in another light composed of both: Most of the significant inventions of the Industrial Revolution were not undergirded by a deep scientific understanding, and their inventors were not scientists. The standard chronology i...

#math#computation#industrial#revolution#impact#civilization
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Integrated water data infrastructure, taking stock a decade later

In 2014, the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) released the an assessment of innovation opportunities in the water sector, including this clarion call to: Develop and implement an integrated water information management system for water supplies, uses, and quality including precipitation, runoff, and storage; for surface water, groundwater, and water use… Near-Term Actions: The Governor and key agencies should immediately take the lead to form a consortium of parties, includ...

#water#data#consortium#state#california#digital#transformation
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Beyond America's* uncivil war

A decade ago, in a city far, far away, my co-founder insisted that I watch A Ted Talk. Not just any pop idea monger mind you, but a bonafied Chief Belief Officer, Devdutt Pattanaik, sharing about the mythological differences between East and West. Devdutt's story begins with a race between two brothers three times around the world. One went around the globe, the other waited until the first brother had completed two very long laps and then calmly walked around their parents. That brother then...

#uncivil_war#us#politics#local#home#world#ted#myths
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Lessons from Microsoft's triumphant turnaround

Wired's latest cover story details Microsoft's transformation from a moribund has-been technological giant reaping the rent from yesterdays innovations to a leading edge company pioneering the future once again. Today the company is once again one of the world's most valuable companies, currently ranked third globally. Not too long ago the company was adrift. “Nadella doesn’t say outright what everyone in the room knows: Just a decade ago, pundits had declared the company brain-dead.”Today, u...

#microsoft#enterprise#tech#company#turnaround#open_source
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Rekindling cafeterias as a cultural commons

I recently started working at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Located downtown by Union Station, the District's headquarters has a great cafeteria. Quality, dependable food at affordable prices. When I interned at Met seventeen years ago and was running the CA data collaborative a half decade ago, it was cool to see the many people from many walks of life who'd come to the Met cafeteria for a meal. It was right across a nice plaza from Union station.Today that cafeteria re...

#commons#civic#reform#connection#community

Few global climate news links for Black Friday

COP29 missed many important faces, including the current POTUS. Hardly any of the world’s most powerful leaders will be making an appearance in Baku, Azerbaijan — yet another year that the annual Conference of the Parties, convened to stem the problem of warming, has been hosted by a petrostate. President Xi Jinping of China won’t be there, and neither will Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. President Emmanuel Macron of France, the bedraggled face of Western liber...

#climate#global#news#geopolitics#updates
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Pioneering public sector training programs that meet our current civic challenges

I recently had the opportunity to hear the new President of Art Center, the world leading design training institute in Pasadena, speak. Her fireside chat was great and one piece in particular jumped out at me. She emphasized the criticality of Art Center's connectivity with industry - through alumni engagement, industry sponsored projects and also encouraging professors to either consult or work four days and teach on the fifth. That model reminded me of the founding MIT model, well documente...

#education#civic#tech#gov_tech#public_tech#data#mpa#mpp
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The March of Folly

Why did the Trojans fall for such a seemingly obvious ruse as a wooden horse housing an invading army? Why did the Renaissance popes persist in corrupt behavior — ranging from rampantly promiscuous parties to using the papacy as a tool for self enrichment — that ignored growing resentment amongst the people? Why did the British act to turn their colonists into rebels and instigate a war which could never achieve Parliaments initial financial objectives? Why did America back a decrepit regime ...

#folly#current_events#future#troy#vietnam#rebellion

State capacity shortage, California public employee edition

California spending on city workers has grown 76% since 2010. Inflation over that period was 42%, meaning that real wage growth increased 185%. Much of that cost comes from exponentially increasing pension costs. Meanwhile, California population has declined slightingly over that period. Are city services 185% than 2010?Anyone know the core factors affecting the wide disbursement of city employee costs per resident? Are the sub-thousand dollar cities having services largely provided by the Co...

#muscular state#california

State capacity shortage, process for the sake of process edition

This procedural burden weighs especially heavily on new players and novel technologies that haven’t had time to work the system. Oil and gas drilling companies, for instance, have been granted several NEPA exceptions that reduce the requirements for things such as drilling exploratory wells. Geothermal energy, on the other hand, does not receive such exceptions, even though it involves drilling wells like those for oil and gas. Procedural requirements, like most regulations, heavily favor the...

#state capacity#procedure#rules