Chris Stines is Planetizen's former Editor and the founder of Urban Insight, a leading digital agency. Chris has 25 years of experience in technology consulting and urban planning and has served as a consultant to public sector state, county, and local agencies, Fortune 500 private firms, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations.
Bush Has A '60s Flashback
The Bush administration is backing away from urban programs that Republicans of a generation ago supported.
Does Bad GIS Data Equal Hidden Taxes?
Does unreliable data and analysis result in hidden taxes in the form of higher costs for infrastructure?
When The Biggest Tourist Attraction Is The Biggest Polluter
Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano is the state's most popular tourist attractions, but also by far the state's worst source of air pollution.
The Powerful Advantage of Open Source
<img src="http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/06/images/feature_linux.gif" alt="Linux v. Microsoft" align="right" />This article, <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/06/issue/feature_linux.asp?trk=nl">How Linux Could Overthrow Microsoft</a>, in MIT's <em>Technology Review</em> caught me off-guard.<br /> <br /> The article is a fascinating overview of the open source and proprietary software models. It appears to be well-researched and written, and makes a compelling case for open source:<br /> <br /> <blockquote>...For all its flaws, the open-source model has powerful advantages. The deepest and also most interesting of these advantages is that, to put it grossly, open source takes the bullshit out of software. It severely limits the possibility of proprietary "lock-in"--where users become hostage to the software vendors whose products they buy...</blockquote>
Base Closures Focus Attention On Toxic Waste
US base closings could add to cleanup tasks despite EPA report of pollution declines.