Hasta La Ideas

The giddiness surrounding a possible Twitter sale to Google, Disney or Apple has completely disappeared. According to Recode, all three companies are now not interested in acquiring the social media company.

With those three out, Salesforce stands alone as the last company rumored to be interested in buying Twitter.

Not that Salesforce’s presence will make anyone feel better — when news broke that Google, Disney and Apple were all out, Twitter’s stock dropped 19 percent. Also, Salesforce has yet to confirm any acquisition talks.

In a symbol of their commitment to environmentally-friendly means of transportation, the Helsinki City Council has just greenlit the construction of a massive bridge system that is off-limits to cars entirely. The Crown Bridges project, a trio of bridges including a 1.2-kilometer stretch that will be Finland’s longest span, will only accommodate streetcars, pedestrians and cyclists.

The €260 million (USD $290 million) project will link Helsinki’s city center with the suburbs across the water to the east. They estimate daily streetcar ridership across the bridges to be 37,000, with an additional 3,000 folks walking or pedaling across the spans.

Thus far Helsinki has done a good job of making a dent in car traffic:

Today public transportation represents 30 percent of all journeys made in Helsinki; driving represents 25 percent, walking 30 percent, and cycling 10–11 percent while growing.

This week, Mike shares some bizarre facts about birds!..(Read…)

For just the third time in its 150-year-plus history, The Atlantic has endorsed a president. The magazine’s editors have thrown their support behind Hillary Clinton, who has “more than earned” the honor of being the next president.

The two previous presidents The Atlantic has endorsed were Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the second for Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

The editorial took time to point out Clinton’s strengths, then added a brutal attack against Donald Trump.

Of Clinton, the piece noted, “We are confident that she understands the role of the United States in the world; we have no doubt that she will apply herself assiduously to the problems confronting this country; and she has demonstrated an aptitude for analysis and hard work.”

As for Trump, well, The Atlantic basically eviscerated the poor guy.

“His affect is that of an infomercial huckster; he traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself. He is easily goaded, a poor quality for someone seeking control of America’s nuclear arsenal. He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”

We’re not going to lie, “He appears not to read” had us laughing.