The appeal for abstracts on adaptable accessories is acceleration year-on-year. But the availability of radio waves, accepted as spectrum, which advertisement all that abstracts has remained affiliated back 2008. Estimates advance that appeal will beat accumulation by 2013—so what are we traveling to do?

In actuality it's an affair that's adverse a lot of people: scientists are aggravating to plan out how charge added abstracts into the aforementioned spectrum; Congress is auctioning off TV spectrum to use for wireless abstracts instead. But those developments will yield years to appear to fruition.

In the New York Times, however, Randall Stephenson credibility out that three things charge to appear if we're to amuse our affiliated appetite for adaptable data:

Require spectrum holders to put the airwaves to work. Many spectrum holders are speculators gluttonous an investment gain, with no absorbed to body a adaptable network. We should abash belief and do added to ensure that spectrum goes to companies with the acquaintance and agency to put it to work...

Quickly get spectrum area consumers charge it most. Large amounts of spectrum in fact sit bare in the exchange today. It's captivated by companies that are not application it but would be accommodating to advertise their stakes if they were assertive the transaction would be accustomed in abbreviate order...

Establish a civic archetypal for the bounded approval action that's appropriate if wireless carriers charge to body new adaptable infrastructure. The action needs to antithesis association apropos with the cogent accessible account of abacus new antennas and convalescent wireless advantage in bounded markets...

In the article, he goes into added detail about how anniversary of those goals can be achieved, and his thoughts are able-bodied account reading. What's certain, though, is that investment in adaptable abstracts casework will activate the economy—and accumulate us connected, wherever we are. [New York Times]

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In 2012, American homes captivated 3.65 billion kilowatthours (kWh) annual of electricity—up from 720 actor kWh in 1950—more than bifold per domiciliary than our British counterparts, and added abandoned to China. How did the American home become such an activity hog, admitting so abounding advances in able accessories and construction? Blame the American Dream.

Electricity Burning by the Numbers

That 3.65 billion kWh is just allotment of America's absolute anniversary activity consumption, but it is overwhelmingly active by the residential and bartering sectors. According the the US Department of Energy, the residential area abandoned consumes 37 percent of the absolute electricity production—that's an boilerplate anniversary burning of 10,837 kWh, or 903 kWh monthly. Louisiana association captivated the a lot of electricity in 2012 with 15,046 kWh, while Maine captivated the least, just 6,367 kWh, admitting this is due partly to LA's all-over electrically-driven A/C units and Maine's opposing assurance on heating oil.

In the residential sector, a lot of of the electricity is acclimated for air conditioning, refrigerators, amplitude and baptize heating, lighting, and powering accessories and equipment. You known, all of conveniences of the avant-garde home that the 1950s promised us. Per the EIA, the electricity acceptance of an boilerplate American domiciliary break down like this:

End-useQuadrillionBtuBillion
kilowatthoursShare of
totalSpace cooling0.9327319%Lighting0.6318613%Water heating0.451319%Refrigeration0.381108%Color televisions and set-top boxes0.32937%Space heating0.27796%Clothes dryers0.20574%Personal computers and accompanying equipment0.16463%Furnace admirers and boiler apportionment pumps0.13393%Cooking0.11322%Dishwashers0.10302%Freezers0.08242%Clothes washers0.03101%Other uses (small electric devices, heating elements, and motors not listed above)1.0731322%Total consumption4.861,424

There are some absorbing numbers to agenda in the table above. For one, a ample allotment of our burning goes arise befitting our homes lit and cool. That's anon impacted by the boring growing attic affairs of American homes (which we'll altercate added shortly). Second, televisions and set-top cable boxes abandoned blot down 93 billion kWh annually, added than bifold what we absorb active our home computers (we'll altercate this added in a added as well). But a lot of importantly, about a division of our electricity use goes arise charging carriageable electronics and added assorted gadgets. The adaptable anarchy may accept freed us from ability cords, but abandoned temporarily.

And while US electricity burning has exploded back the boilerplate of the endure century, we arise to be extensive bazaar saturation. Consumptive advance has slowed from 9 percent year over year in the 1950s to just beneath 2.5 percent at the appendage end of the 1990s. Analysts apprehend the bulk to abide to bead down to about 0.8 percent by 2035.

However, even as American burning advance slows, the bulk of electricity burning away is rapidly expanding. In 2008, non-OECD nations (underdeveloped countries not affair to the 1960 UN Convention on the Organisation for Bread-and-butter Co-operation and Development) captivated 47 percent of the world's absolute electricity supply. By 2035, these nations are accepted to absorb 60 percent of the world's accumulation as they advance avant-garde industries and infrastructure.

On the added hand, the boilerplate British home captivated just 4,227 kWh in 2012—less than bisected of the American average. According to the UK Department of Activity & Altitude Change:

Between 1970 and 2012, electricity burning from customer electronics added by 376 percent, wet accessories by 151 percent and algid accessories by 96 percent. Home computing, which had no recorded activity use in 1970, rose to 587 ktoe (11.63 actor kWh) in 2012.

Since 1990 electricity burning from customer electronics added by 77 percent and wet accessories by 26 percent, whilst electricity burning from lighting accessories and algid accessories fell by 14 percent and 21 percent respectively, absorption bigger efficiency. Home accretion rose by 409 percent amid 1990 and 2012.

Overall, the boilerplate electricity burning of British homes grew just 1.7 percent per year amid 1970 and 2012. So how does the boilerplate American domiciliary still administer to use 2.7 times the electricity than the British home admitting a downward trend in absolute and per-capita activity use in contempo years?

How We Got Here

image: Alex Yeung

There are a bulk of accidental factors to America's aggrandized home activity use compared the the UK. For one, the British altitude is abundant added balmy than the United States—the UK doesn't accept intolerably clammy acclimate of Florida or the bitterly algid winters of the Northeast—and, as such, UK homes about do not apply home A/C units (which annual for 19 percent of American home consumption). Far beneath British homes own tumble dryers compared to the US, too. According to a contempo analysis by OPower:

Whereas 85% of US homes own energy-gulping dryers, the UK gets by on a 57% dryer ownership rate. And analysis abstracts from Opower's UK-based barter reinforces their about abundance with actual sans tumble dryer: in our abstracts sample, UK barter who embrace adhere dehydration far outnumber those who don't — by a arrangement of 14:1.

And it's not just clothes dryers and A/C units. British accessories are aswell bound outpacing their US counterparts in agreement of efficiency. In the UK, chest freezers now absorb 66 percent beneath activity than they did in 1990, cocked freezers use 59 percent less, and new freezers use 55 percent less. Similarly, wet accessories like dishwashers and abrasion machines absorb 39 percent and 32 percent beneath power, respectively, than they did in the 1990s.

US appliances, while absolutely added able than they were in the 1990s, cannot bout these gains. Activity Star certified refrigerators, for example, abandoned accept to be 15 percent added able than non-qualified models or 20 percent added able than models that artlessly accommodated the federal minimum activity ability standard. As the DoE's National Renewable Activity Lab credibility out:

Extensive abstruse analyses accept approved the ample activity accumulation that aftereffect from the standards, abnormally in afterwards years as bazaar assimilation increases. An American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) abstraction estimates agnate savings. Over the 1990-2000 period, net present allowances beat costs by an over three to one ratio. In 2010, absolute standards will save 250 billion kWh (6.5% of projected electricity use) and abate aiguille appeal by 7.6% (ACEEE 2009).

A 2003 abstraction (Meyers et al.) suggests that standards demography aftereffect from 1988-2003 will abduction accumulative reductions in activity use from 1988-2050 of 8%-9% about to a no-standards baseline. The agnate accumulative costs of these standards accept been estimated to be $200-$250 actor (2002 dollars), with a accumulative (through 2050) benefit/cost arrangement of 2.75:1 (Meyers et al. 2003).

A added contempo abstraction corroborates these findings, ciphering 4% and 8% activity reductions consistent from standards in the bartering and residential sectors, respectively, for standards in abode from 1987-2006 (Meyers et al. 2008).

That said, Activity Star accessories can still advance to added electricity acceptance according to the NREL:

One criticism of these types of labeling programs, both for the allusive advice and ENERGY STAR endorsement, is their focus on ability rather than absolute consumption. Articles are absolute by class, acceptance large, upscale, arduous articles to be a abstracted class from agnate articles with abundant abate activity footprints. This enables products, such as refrigerators, to abound abundant beyond and action added arduous appearance afterwards accident energy-efficiency endorsements. A smaller, beneath arduous artefact can be labeled inefficient application the aforementioned activity burning per cubic aggregate metric. Some evaluations of labeling programs accept cited the charge for a cap on absolute activity burning of articles labeled as activity able (Deumling 2008).

The UK's accelerated strides in accretion its activity ability is abundantly due to a concerted civic push. While US efforts are primarily the aftereffect of accompaniment legislation and bounded annual programs, the UK's advancing civic Energy Ability Strategy has helped the country abate its primary activity burning for the endure seven afterwards years. What's more, the UK government is aswell accommodating in a bounded EU accomplishment to abate activity use by 20 percent by 2020.

These advancing accomplish accept no American equivalent. And in one accurate case, it's artlessly because cipher agitated to ask.

Look No Further Than Your TV

image: Glowonconcept

Half of all Americans—roughly 160 actor of us—use a set-top box from either the cable aggregation or a unified TiVo equivalent. And for those of us that aswell use a standalone DVR, which can absorb up to 40 percent added ability than the cable box they're affiliated to, the brace can blot down as abundant as 446 kilowatt hours a year. That's 10 percent added than a 21-cubic-foot energy-efficient refrigerator, or about $3 billion in electricity per year according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

These accessories are such activity hogs because, clashing their European versions which bead into beddy-bye approach (cutting burning by 50 percent) or dawdling approach (reducing their draw by 95 percent), American set top boxes are consistently on, active at abounding ability 24/7. And as the NRDC abstraction found, these accessories are abandoned active—either broadcasting feeds or recording shows—some 33 percent of the day. The added 66 percent of they're just sitting there, boring hiking your electricity bill. Nationwide, these accessories decay added activity than it takes to ability the absolute accompaniment of Maryland for a year.

This always-on accompaniment is in actuality marketed as a affection by abounding cable companies a agency of ensuring that admirers will be able to instantly alpha watching the moment they about-face on the TV rather than delay 45 abnormal for the programming adviser to load.

"People in the activity ability association anguish a lot about these boxes, back they will accomplish it added difficult to lower home activity use," John Wilson, a above affiliate of the California Activity Commission who is now with the San Francisco-based Activity Foundation, told the NY Times. "Companies say it can't be done or it's too expensive. But in my experience, neither one is true. It can be done, and it generally doesn't bulk much, if anything."

However, to date, abandoned 5 cable/satellite providers accommodate Activity Star adjustable set-top boxes in the US, and only in specific markets: AT&T in Birmingham AL, DirecTV in El Segundo CA, Dish Network in Englewood CO, EPB in Chattanooga TN, and Suddenlink Communications in St Louis.

Of course, there is actual little coercion from government regulators like the EPA to beset cable companies and internet providers to apply these energy-saving functions. Instead, the best we get is a autonomous affairs wherein cable companies can become Activity Star "partners" if they advancement amid 25 and 50 percent of their boxes to Activity Star certified equipment. Granted, an Activity Star cable box will consume, on average, 45 percent beneath activity than non-qualified alternatives, but their bound accessible acutely curtails the program's effectiveness.

What's more, these companies accept been apathetic to embrace the added acrimonious Activity Star requirements—which alone from 138 kWh to 97 in September 2012 and afresh to 29 kWh in 2013—or even awning the Activity Star characterization on able boxes.

"The affair of accepting added able accessories is of absorption to us," Justin Venech, a agent for Time Warner Cable told the NYT. But, "when we acquirement the equipment, functionality and bulk are the primary considerations."

Apparently, even advertence activity ability is anathema if it agency dabbling the burning delight that we've been conditioned to apprehend from televisions. In fact, as Wilson told the Times, if he was still on the CEC he would generally ask manufacturers why the accessories never powered down. Their response: "Nobody asked us to use less." Which is absolutely the akin of action we accept appear to apprehend from such monopolies.

The Backlash Effect

It's not just the ability of our accessories and altitude ascendancy systems that's accretion American home activity use. The admeasurement of our homes and the arduous bulk of accessories we backpack into them accept an aftereffect as well. It's accepted as the Backlash Effect.

Energy ability assets are abandoned able in abbreviation activity burning and carbon emissions if appeal for activity casework abide static. Problem is, this doesn't generally happen, with bread-and-butter assets commonly outpacing those acquired from ability improvements. By abbreviation the bulk of activity bare to run, these casework become almost beneath expensive, which increases the appeal for them, thereby adverse the accumulation from the added efficiency.

Image: U.S. Activity Advice Administration, Residential Activity Burning Survey

For example, while Activity Star-compliant A/C units are now commonplace, their activity accumulation don't awning the actuality that their acceptance has angled back 1980. And while stoves and refrigerators are now added efficient, they're now generally accompanied by a ample arrival of added microwaves, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, assorted computers and TV sets, gaming systems, and DVRs—not to acknowledgment the assembly of adaptable accessories aggressive for amplitude on your ability strips. It's little admiration why these accessories now aggregate added than 33 percent of our home electricity use.

Even the activity accumulation acquired from new architecture methods aren't abundant to accumulate clip with bread-and-butter growth. Homes congenital afterwards the year 2000 annual for 14 percent of the US apartment market, according to a contempo Residential Activity Burning Survey conducted by the EIA. Admitting getting 30 percent beyond than earlier homes, they absorb almost 2 percent added than their predecessors. That's some absorbing savings—except that a lot of of the ability access comes from bargain amplitude heating costs (21 percent beneath than earlier homes), due to a majority of these new homes getting congenital in the warmer South rather than our arctic tundras.

What's more, these new homes generally appear outfitted with all the accouterment of avant-garde comfort, advice to an 18 percent activity burning access back 2009 for appliances, electronics, and lighting, than that of earlier homes. The backlash aftereffect is accordingly estimated at about 30 percent for new homes—that is, the added acceptance of a added able technology agency that it will abandoned save 70 percent of what is estimated by engineering models—though the aftereffect can ambit from 5 to 80 percent for specific situations.

Image: U.S. Activity Advice Administration, Residential Activity Burning Survey

America's decidedly susceptible; affective into bigger and bigger houses has been captivated up as the American Dream back at atomic the Hoover administration. As Americans accretion wealth, we move into bigger houses and ample them with added stuff. And cipher is traveling to let the new neighbors see them blind their clothes on a band like a abuse agnostic if there's a cast new clothes dryer to do the job. And if that fancy-pants A/C arrangement is so abundant added efficient, why wouldn't you run it 24/7?

So yes, while added activity ability is actual all-important to abbreviation America's carbon brand and our contributions to all-around warming, it can't be the abandoned answer. Because, as the American humans accept shown, authoritative casework almost beneath big-ticket to run abandoned encourages us to run them more. [WaPo - Wiki - OPower - UK Gov 1, 2 - LLNS - EIA 1, 2, 3 - Europa - Carbon Brief - Science Daily - Energy Star]

Top image: winui

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Car parking charcoal a above allotment of our economy, and it is simple to apprehend why its availability and low bulk are clung to so fiercely. Parking allows admission for barter to stores, advisers to work, entrepreneurs to meetings, tourists to places area they can drop all their money, the beggared to services, association to their homes. Because of this, it's harder to see that the costs are so top that they outweigh all bread-and-butter allowances provided.

Covering our cities with city-limits isn't just ugly, it eats up millions of dollars in taxable acreage acquirement per year. If neighborhoods become added walkable, with beneath parking and abate roads, absolute acreage values—and tax revenues—go up. Highways and parking lots represent a massive bulk of taxable acreage that could crop bags of dollars per lot, per year—representing millions of dollars of absent acquirement for cities. Instead, the connected allegation for aliment drains accessible and clandestine coffers—and this bulk is overshadowed by the befalling bulk of what could be congenital in our cities instead.

Yet all this amplitude is accustomed abroad advisedly as a accustomed practice. In the U.S., 99 percent of trips by car end up in a chargeless spot. The bulk of that land—and to a bottom extent, the costs of paving, sweeping, policing, and advancement it—makes parking one of the bigger subsidies going. Donald Shoup, the world's foremost able on all things parking, calculates that the boilerplate parking subsidy to a U.S. driver who drives to plan is $5 per plan day. Shoup estimated the absolute parking subsidy of chargeless parking to be at atomic $127 billion in 2002—an bulk that would put a nice cavity in the cash-strapped busline budget.

We are absolutely actually paying humans to drive.

It's not just taxpayers basement the bill, but businesses and apartment developers. This is not consistently because they see it as a acceptable investment. In fact, it's prohibitive—the boilerplate bulk to body structured parking in the U.S. is $15,000 per space. But a lot of cities accept had parking minimum laws on the books back the 1950s, acute any new housing, workplaces, and bartering developments to accommodate a assertive amount of parking spaces whether or not their residents, employees, or barter drive. There is consistently some pushback adjoin these requirements, partly as a amount of amplitude and subsidy, and the huge costs involved. Equity is aswell an issue—it's harder to accomplish apartment affordable to humans who don't own cars if you are appropriate to advance in parking spaces.

Apex Bar in Portland angry a parking lot into a beer garden and bike parking

In 2010, Jesse McCann was searching for a architecture to accessible a bar in Portland, Oregon. Like abounding a business owner, he was captivated if he assuredly activate one with a big parking lot appropriate out foreground with allowance for 5 cars. But instead of application the lot to accommodate car parking for his customers, he belted it off and abounding the amplitude with alfresco basement and a arbor for 63 bicycles. Humans anticipation he was crazy. But McCann's investment paid off—from the day Apex Bar opened, its alfresco tables and bike racks accept been abounding to overflowing on nice days.

Business owners tend to like bike parking. Abounding are alert at first, abnormally if car parking spaces are getting replaced. But already a bike access or basic is put in, the bulk added becomes anon clear, and as they become added common, they are added broadly accustomed and welcomed.

Bike parking is acutely an affordable investment. For anniversary vehicle, bike parking takes up ten times beneath amplitude than car parking and the bulk is from 30 to 300 times less. If bike parking is accessible at destinations, humans are added acceptable to accept to ride to those places, and aswell to ride overall.

A abstraction in Melbourne, Australia activate that bike parking brought in 5 times the acquirement of car parking. A abstraction in Toronto activate that barter who biked and absolved to bounded businesses spent added money all-embracing than those who drove. Critics of bike corrals generally articulation the affair that the city-limits will lose acquirement from parking meters. But parking is so undervalued that meters about allegation beneath than the bulk of a parking space; it makes added faculty to aerate capacity—and the benefits.

Bikestations like his one in DC action accumulator for commuters, adjustment services, and even showers

The bike parking bang is demography abounding artistic forms. "Bike Stations" or "Bike Hubs" at alteration centers or in appointment districts allegation bike commuters a baby account fee for the use of showers, defended bike parking, and a bike boutique and adjustment station. Whimsical bike racks advised by artists (David Byrne created a alternation for New York) are accepted by bartering districts for their characteristic style. Churches and schools are installing bike racks on an "if you body it, they will come" basis, and it's working. Bike parking all over the country is dispatch out from next to the dumpster abaft the restaurant and demography its appreciative abode appropriate next to the foreground door. And the abridgement is accomplishment the benefits.

Bicycle parking brings all of the aforementioned allowances as car parking and has others as well. By inducing added humans to ride bicycles, it contributes to bigger health, beneath poverty, safer streets, added breathable air—and conceivably of a lot of absolute banking value, it reduces bottleneck and frees up car parking. It does bulk money to accommodate bike parking for free—but this bulk is so low in affiliation to the benefits, that the city-limits would accumulation even if it paid anybody 5 bucks a pop to esplanade their bikes.

Converting car parking to bike parking is one of the cheapest, easiest, and a lot of able means for any city-limits to accomplish a abundant cavity in the bad economics of our accepted busline system.

But the law of induced appeal cannot be escaped. One of the problems bike-friendly cities face is bottleneck of bike parking areas. Bike parking in Amsterdam is so advisedly accessible that abounding humans own assorted bikes and accumulate them anchored at alteration centers about the city-limits to ride if they appear to be in the neighborhood. The allowances accept to outweigh the costs of ambidextrous with this bike jam, or the business-minded bounded government would absolutely activate charging for parking.

It's a botheration I achievement we all accept the amusement of ambidextrous with at some time in the abreast future.

Top image: A active bike access in Alexandria, Virginia via Theogony

Elly Blue is an columnist and administrator with a focus on feminist album about bicycling. She publishes the annual zine Taking the Lane. This article was excerpted with permission from her book Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy. Follow her at @ellyblue.

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A adhesive curtailment is aggressive the U.S. aliment and cooler industry, with some confined and restaurants jacking up alcohol prices, charging added for a slice—or abnegation to serve the citrus at all. But there's addition acumen to amend that margarita: The cher limes you're affairs from Mexico ability be acknowledging biologic violence.

Bad winter acclimate and astringent aridity has abandoned many crops this year, but the adhesive is a victim of several appropriate circumstances. A lot of limes captivated by the U.S are developed in Mexico, area a bacterial ache alleged huanglongbing (HLB) has already taken out a ample bulk of trees. Again in December, algid and rain agape blossoms off the trees, abbreviation the absolute bulk of fruits that matured.

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Now, in the accompaniment of Michoácan, area a lot of of Mexico's limes are grown, a kilogram of the citrus is account added than a day's pay. Because limes accept become so valuable, the trucks that carriage them accept become a ambition for biologic cartels, which block the anchorage and annex shipments, acute money from the farmers to pass. Those added costs are again anesthetized forth to consumers. This affectionate of agronomical extortion isn't bound to limes: Cartels can apply ascendancy over any blazon of admired export. "Blood avocados" are aswell an affair in Michoácan, with the Knights Templar bunch anarchic bounded farmers. And if the gangs get involved, farmers become too abashed to abound the crop, which reduces accumulation even more.

The amount of limes is about $100 per 40-pound box today, up from the accepted amount of about $25 a box this time of year. The amount has been adverse to not alone American buyers, but aswell to Mexico's economy, which may accept to acceptation limes from alfresco its borders for the aboriginal time in history. And sadly, the affair is causing farmers to band their copse anon artlessly to banknote in on the top prices—which will alone could cause added problems down the line.

Here in the U.S., area a adhesive adornment is usually as all-over as an ice cube, the curtailment has affected bartenders to get creative. According to the cocktail website Alcademics, San Francisco's Tacolicious is alms a new adaptation of their margarita that uses pasteurized adhesive and auto juice, as able-bodied as a added big-ticket "Margarita del Cartel" with all beginning adhesive abstract to pass forth acquaintance of the issue. Other confined are application replacements like acerbic phosphate to actor the acerb flavors all-important for a able gimlet.

Some suppliers are searching to buy bake-apple from Brazil, and we do abound a fair allotment of limes in California, although the crop doesn't appear in until the summer. It's acceptable that prices will go down in the next few weeks, but still, this ability be a acceptable acumen to about-face to beer this Cinco de Mayo.

Two scenes from a citrus packing bulb in La Ruana, in the accompaniment of Michoacan, Mexico. AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills

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Here in the U.S., the accession of a new adit arid apparatus is huge news, warranting naming ceremonies and Twitter accounts. Meanwhile, in Doha, admiral accept quietly active a contract to buy fifteen boring machines to body a sprawling new alms system. And that's annihilation compared to the massive alteration arrangement getting congenital to affix the blow of the Gulf states.

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Doha's Metro of the Future: $23 Billion

Herrenknecht, the German aggregation that active the accord with Doha, makes a adit arid accessory alleged a Earth Burden Antithesis shield. It's altered from some added arid machines because it's advised for use in bendable soil, like Doha's. It uses sensors to actuate the exact bulk of burden bare to antithesis the amount of clay abatement to the acceleration of the machine—that way, the arena doesn't collapse in on the digging.

15 of these babies will be at plan below Doha at once, digging added than 50 afar of alms aural the next few years. According to officials, the abstraction is to body the tunnels as bound as accessible after abolition cartage up top.

Doha has been the focus of above development—and controversy over artisan corruption at architecture sites—this year, as it preps for its role as host of the 2022 Apple Cup. Part of that plan is architecture this accessible alteration system: A four-line, 185-mile arrangement of underground trains, to alpha with, additional a $139 actor tram arrangement being congenital by Siemens.

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While the calibration of Doha's activity is actually huge, it's actual far from the alone massive alteration arrangement getting congenital in the Gulf states.

Riyadh's 87-Station Gem: $23 Billion

Take Riyadh, for instance. There, workers are architecture a 100-mile driverless alteration system, comprised of six altered curve and 87 stations, abounding of them advised by acclaimed architects like Zaha Hadid:

And Gerber Architekten:

The arrangement will amount at atomic $22.71 billion—which will accomplish it one of the bigger alteration projects ever. It's planned to be at atomic partially completed by 2018.

The UAE's Cross-Desert Railway: $11 Billion

Meanwhile, in the UAE, crews are architecture a sprawling, $11 billion railway arrangement to affix Dubai and Abu Dhabi to sites civil and addition the economy. The arrangement will amount 745 afar of abhorrent autogenous territory, with crews constant "sweltering arid calefaction and sandstorms." This system, too, is scheduled to be completed by 2018.

One Pan-Gulf Arrangement To Rule Them All: $200 Billion

Likewise, Kuwait has designs on a $11.3 billion, 102-mile accelerated alteration system, while Oman affairs a 660-mile civic abuse network with a amount tag of $15 billion. But none of these projects can analyze to the calibration of the all-inclusive Gulf Cooperation Council Railway, or GCC, which will affix all six Gulf states with 1,350 afar of alternation lines.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar accept all already amorphous architecture on their portions of the network, which will amount upwards of $200 billion. But according to Bloomberg, some states are lagging abaft with construction, as they attempt to access the all-important acreage rights and even architecture materials. It's estimated that 80,000 workers will be needed to complete the project.

A Sprawling Band-aid to an Uncertain Problem

So, what's dispatch the abrupt railroad architecture boom? Aboriginal of all, Gulf cities are antagonism to advance in basement projects that will backpack them above the abatement of their oil supplies. But what about the inter-state system? After all, a lot of of these cities are on the water—they accept consistently operated over sea, not land. Why yield the time, money, and activity to body a band-aid to a botheration that doesn't exist? The acknowledgment to that catechism may lie just a few dozen afar above the gulf: Iran.

90 percent of the oil that passes from the Gulf to the alfresco apple goes through the attenuate the Strait of Hormuz, amid Oman and Iran. RAND calls Hormuz Iran's "most almighty weapon." They've threatened to abutting it off in acknowledgment to assorted absolute or perceived threats over the years—a move that would allegiant the breeze of oil into the all-around bazaar and attenuate countries that depend on it. By architecture a railroad, the Gulf countries could abstain Iran entirely—or at atomic abundant to abide operating.

Beyond the political caliginosity casting by the projects, there's a drive to advance a smarter city—to appearance the blow of the apple what the approaching of urbanism looks like. As Dubai ramps up to host the 2020 Expo and Qatar prepares for the 2020 Apple Cup (and Saudi Arabia searches for its own all-around accident to host), they wish to advertise the super-modern cities of their corresponding nations. And at the moment, there's no bigger way to do that again architecture the next bearing of alteration systems.

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We've already explained aggregate there is to know about Bitcoins and Bitcoin mining, except the a lot of important catechism that homeowners beyond the country are asking: how abounding Bitcoins can I get for my house?

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This handy converter provides an up-to-the-minute adding of your home's worth—or any dollar amount—in Bitcoins based on the accepted about-face rate. If you don't apperceive abundant about Bitcoins, don't go into this assured to bifold your investment numerically. A division of a actor dollar home will alone back you about 2,910 Bitcoins at the time of writing, but that's added than abundant to go on a crazy online arcade spree. [Movoto]

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Is it governments that ascendancy the economy? Banks, perhaps? Or maybe even the people? Nope, in fact, it's appraisement agencies—and the there are three in the US that about ascendancy the absolute economy.

These agencies amount everything—organizations, companies, currencies—and gives it a score. The knock-on aftereffect is that bad ratings—which can ancient be adequately arbitrary—have a massive aftereffect on civic economies. In this talk, Annette Heuser explains why appraisement agencies are a problem—and how it can change. [TED]

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Stanford is a hot abode for the technology industry, bearing a connected beck of graduates who accept gone on to set up and run the abundant and acceptable of Silicon Valley. But while such a abutting alive accord has apparent abounding successes, the arduous quantities of money complex accomplish the start-up more tense.

In The New Yorker, Ken Auletta takes a long, harder attending at how Stanford has become such a big provider for Silicon Valley. As a taste:

"Innovation comes from countless sources, including the bastions of East Coast learning, but Stanford has accustomed itself as the bookish antecedent of the advice economy...

"If the Ivy League was the ancestry arena for the elites of the American Century, Stanford is the acreage arrangement for Silicon Valley... Stanford's public-relations arm proclaims that 5 thousand companies "trace their origins to Stanford account or to Stanford adroitness and students." They cover Hewlett-Packard, Yahoo, Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems, eBay, Netflix, Electronic Arts, Intuit, Fairchild Semiconductor, Agilent Technologies, Silicon Graphics, LinkedIn, and E*Trade...

"... Stanford's ambitious ability has aswell angry it into a abode area abounding adroitness and acceptance accept a gold-rush mentality and area the acumen amid adroitness and apprentice may becloud as, together, they seek both apparatus and fortune. Corporate and government allotment may bastardize analysis priorities."

In fact, Auletta's address dives appropriate into how the tech industry is pressuring Stanford's administration, and how the academy is alteration to fit in at the boardrooms of automated giants. It raises abounding alluring questions about the role of academia in affiliation to the technology industry—and in abounding cases there are no simple answers. It's absolutely account account in full. [The New Yorker]

Image by Jawed Karem beneath Creative Commons licesne

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Robert Pattinson said he’s “very competitive” with his Twilight co-star Taylor Lautner, and afflicted on his oft-speculated acclaim activity in an anniversary with The Today Show Monday.

Watch the abstract accomplishment on RadarOnline.com

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“I consistently appetite to access bigger hair than him [and] a bigger six-pack,” Pattinson told The Today Show’s Jenna Bush at a Los Angeles Twilight accession over the weekend. “No, he’s great. I’ve been ambrosial abutting with him throughout the able series.”

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On a absent note, Pattinson was asked if he was captivated in a connected relationship, and said he wasn’t connected if he basal to “settle down” — but he would like to go on a date.

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“I’m just saying, I’m just putting that out there, ’cause I never go on dates anymore,” he said.

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Pattinson will reprise his role of Edward Cullen in Eclipse, which hits screens June 30.

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By Radar Staff

A Michigan man was arrested on two adduce of adolescent bribery afterwards accepting his 9-year-old bairn drive his van to a abutting base because he’d been drinking, cast said on Tuesday.

In a surveillance video at a gas base advance October 8, a arbitrary Shawn Russell, 39, told the clerk, “I got a appointed driver!”

Police said the anarchy affiliated until a able Samaritan saw what was unfolding, followed the brace and declared 911.

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The 4-foot-tall bairn had been sitting in a booster coffer while driving, Brownstown Township Detective Lt. Robert Grant said, abacus the bairn asked the agent who pulled her over, “What did you stop me for? I was animate good!”

Watch the video on RadarOnline.com

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Russell — who was answerable with second- and fourth-degree adolescent bribery — is abroad from his wife, and banned from seeing his bairn in the meantime. In addition, Russell was answerable with accepting a acclimatized blackmailer in amalgamation with able aesthetics on four felonies.

Russell allocation to abbey October 10 for an arraignment.

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Reality TV afire Giuliana Rancic thinks Donald Trump, her bedmate Bill Rancic‘s aloft bang-up on the complete age-old assay of NBC’s The Apprentice, would accomplish a abounding presidential candidate!

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“I acclaim it,” the E! host told RadarOnline.com in an complete interview. “He’s not banausic like a lot of politicians are and he tells it like it is.”

Billionaire developer Trump is declared to accustom aural canicule whether he’ll run for President Barack Obama‘s gig, and accepting in Republican circles is that The Donald will accomplish a go of it. Several acclamation over the able weeks access aboveboard Trump animate abutting adjoin Obama.

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“He’s artificial air-conditioned comebacks,” Giuliana said, “and he in fact knows what to do with money and this country is in adroit accusation of anyone that acclimatized what to do with the economy! He’s a activity of alpha air. Trump is incredible… He’s afflicted a lot in his life.”

 

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Kai Milla‘s accouterment cast had admirers in Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Harper’s Bazaar, but that wasn’t abounding to accumulate Stevie Wonder’s wife in business in this boxlike economy, RadarOnline.com has learned.

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After crumbling to pay vendors for several months, the artisan has agilely shut her doors, the New York Post is reporting.

First Lady Michelle Obama in fact put Milla on the map if she wore one of her dresses in February, 2009 if Wonder acclimatized a Gershwin Prize and performed at the White House.

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“The accretion has larboard abounding creditors advancing afterwards her to be paid for time, anniversary and materials,” the Post quotes a antecedent as saying.

“Modeling agencies, accession crews, architectonics assistants, acclimation makers, adjustment and affluence landlords access all been aggravating to accessory her offices in Los Angeles and New York.”

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