Five stories that have North Texas talking: Joel Kotkin imagines an America divided into seven countries and three city-states for 'Forbes,' MIT dreams up drones for personal navigation, DISD sees an increase of kids caught fighting or doing drugs and more.
In geographer and futurist Joel Kotkin’s vision of America 2023, Dallas is the new capitol of The Great Plains. Houston emerges as the next global city as capitol of The Third Coast, which includes the Gulf from South Texas to Western Florida, steely after its recovery from the Great Recession. Texas is divided and claimed by 3 of 7 new nations in America. This plot is not some sort of hyper-secessionism. It's Kotkin's idea map for Forbes Magazine called “America’s Next Decade.”
Kotkin talked to KUT’s David Brownabout how, theoretically, the re-draw would best serve the diverse future of the U.S.
Three Of Downtown Dallas’ Skyline Towers Are For Sale: When it comes to skyscrapers, Dallas has more than its share of stories. Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster and Art&Seek’s Jerome Weeks skimmed the history of Dallas’ vertical thinking on Think Wednesday in a conversation about the skyline’s growing tendency towards neon. A combined 125 literal stories are now on the market downtown: the 42-story Tower at Cityplace, the 49-story 1700 Pacific tower and the 34-story KPMG Centre. (Though Lamster politely declined repeatedly to talk much about his “favorite” buildings or projects in the city beyond the Kirby last night at the Dallas Museum of Art in a discussion about the built environment, he did tell DMN readers just after he came to the paper in May that Fountain Place is his favorite skyscraper.)
Just Follow Your Personal Drone: If Reunion Tower isn't reliable enough as a North Star, another wonder from up high could help us get our bearings: drones. That’s right, if you’re frustrated with Google Maps and navigation apps that take longer to refresh than it would take to get you there, an "autonomous flying quadcopter and personal tour guide" from the MIT Senseable City Lab could lead you straight to Point B. Skycall isn’t ready for the market, which should put Siri at ease. [Atlantic Cities]
http://youtu.be/mB9NfEJ0ZVs
More DISD Students Caught Fighting Or Using Drugs: The number of DISD kids suspended or put in alternative education programs surged 26 percent in 2012-2013 from the year prior. The board didn't blame superintendent Mike Miles for the problem, at least off the bat, after hearing the report Thursday. [Dallas News]
Dell To Revamp In Private: The Round-Rock based Dell company is going private after shareholders ok’d Michael Dell’s pitch to buy it for $25 billion. He’s aiming for a reinvention a la IBM and focus on PCs and tablets. Dell lags behind both that stamp and Hewlett Packard after cutting prices. [Reuters]
