By 2050, the world’s population is projected to be more than 9 billion, with roughly 70% of people residing in urban areas. With more people flocking to cities, there is an urgent demand for smarter, more sustainable cities.A city’s infrastructure is comprised of a number of systems, including transportation e.g. roads, bridges, public transportation, etc., sewage, utility e.g. gas, electricity, water treatment and delivery, and public and private buildings. Urbanization and proliferation of these systems are key to quality of life, but also create a significant toll on the sustainability, energy efficiency and capacity level of a city.

via 5 Ways The Smart City Will Change How We Live In 2012 | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation.

(This is Fred Wilson’s post but it reflects an attitude/process very similar to mine)

This post will explain a lot about dealing with a disorganized organization system. I am not very organized. I am a brute force type. My desk is a mess. My computer is a mess. But I somehow power through things and get the important stuff done.

via A VC: Feature Friday: Mark Unread In Gmail.

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

via Stop Coddling the Super-Rich – NYTimes.com.

Fast Company spoke with (Amy) 

Cortese about “locavesting,” the term she dubbed that, similar to the spirit of locavores, describes the movement to rebuild sustainable communities by investing in businesses within 50 miles of where you live

via “Locavesting”: Investing In Main Street Instead Of Wall Street | Fast Company.

Here is a funny take on how all the biggest tech companies are organized from designer Manu Cornet, via Foursquare product chief Alex Rainert. Rainert notes on Tumblr, “These are really great though I imagine there’s a bit more centralized gravitational pull at Facebook than this one suggests.”

via The Org Charts Of All The Major Tech Companies Humor.

Don’t take money you will never ever need. No matter what price and terms the money is offered, it has a cost. Money is never free. If you have absolutely no need for the money then don’t take it.

via A VC: When They Are Throwing Money At You.

Conde Nast on Monday said it’s popular Style.com property was now part of Fairchild Fashion Group, effective immediately.

via MediaPost Raw » Blog Archive » Conde Hands Style.com To Fairchild.

Either way — if our only choices are between implicit default and painful default — it’s hard to get too excited about anything in the US economy right now.

via Krugman: We’re Going To Have To Default On Our Debt One Way Or Another.

Gawker Media’s marketing manager Christopher Mascari has released a chart showing the change in the company’s social-media referral traffic over the past year. Peter Kafka at All Things D has analyzed and published it.

via The Collapse Of Digg [CHART].