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Articles by Jess Zimmerman

Jess Zimmerman was the editor of Grist List.

All Articles

  • Russia lets VIPs ignore traffic laws

    Do you hate sh*tty drivers? Well, in Soviet Russia, sh*tty driver hates YOU! Moscow's road rage problem is epic, perhaps due to the fact that their traffic solution involves giving special police-style sirens to "VIP" drivers (read: 900-plus important people, government officials and so forth, and the 900-plus folks who can get a hold of them in some other way). However poorly the U.S. is doing at managing traffic, Russian solutions make our roads look like a buggy path in Amish country.

    Jess Zimmerman Cities

  • Solar-powered laptop lets you play outside while you work

    What's the best way to piss off a computer scientist? Buy her a laptop that only works when it gets enough sun. It's the perfect gag gift for the basement-dwelling, vitamin D-deprived coder in your life.

    Jess Zimmerman Technology

  • Is China trying to steal this city?

    China seems to be turning its countryside into a sort of Baudrillardian Euro-Epcot -- they've got two replica English villages, a mini-Barcelona and mini-Venice, a Scandiavia-esque "Nordic Town," and a German district in the city of Anting. Now they're planning to add a replica of the Austrian village of Hallstatt, and the original Hallstatt is pretty pissed.

    Jess Zimmerman Cities

  • Interactive climate change maps show just how screwed we are

    The Climate Hot Map, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, notes climate trouble spots worldwide. These are by no means all the effects of global warming -- for instance, we're guessing that Canada is not in fact a charmed oasis, untouched by climate change outside of one river in the Northwest Territories. But it does give you a sense of just how widespread the crisis is. (And maybe they'll keep updating it until it's just a mass of flags.)

    Jess Zimmerman Science