I’ve been telling people for a while that there are reasons to be skeptical about D.C.’s new streetcars. But the fact is that the city has already encouraged a huge development rush along H Street, and the fact that the line hasn’t opened yet (and that public officials have implied it might not open at all) does a disservice to the businesses there that have sacrificed street parking and patience while waiting to see a better public transit option in the area.
That’s why Mayor Muriel Bowser’s commitment on Tuesday to not only open the line, but also expand it to Georgetown, should be good for everyone involved – especially given that hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent to get things up and running.
Here’s some more recommended reading:
Cars as property vs. cars as a service
I know many friends and family members who would turn red in the face if you told them that they couldn’t repair and replace parts on their own cars. With computers becoming more and more infused with how cars function, there’s an important legal battleground being set up to determine who gets to do what with automobiles. Here’s a quick briefer on the crucial place where copyright and cars intersect, in case you want to catch up.
The art of He-Man
It’s pretty much impossible to overemphasize how great of a decision Dark Horse Comics made in picking Tim and Steve Seeley to do the writing duties on the new art of He-Man book that’s coming out this month. I’m really looking forward to seeing that.
April Fools’ Day
I actually really loathe April Fools’ Day. But the dev team at Streetwise pulled off a respectably executed gag on Wednesday by getting Clippy to show up in our CMS. I stand impressed.
Chess for peace
The leader of the World Chess Federation thinks he can get North Korea and South Korea to participate in youth chess matches against one another. It’s certainly no crazier than Dennis Rodman’s basketball diplomacy dreams, but I suppose that if anyone can pull it off, it’s Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.