Cities
Hannover, Germany
The real reason why I wanted to go to Hannover was to see the Waterloo Column. Why does Hannover have a column to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon? In fact, the Kingdom of Hannover actually used to be in a Read more
Cities
Magdeburg, Germany
If you look at a large fold-out map of the VBB (Verkehrsberbund Berlin-Brandenburg, the regional transit provider for Berlin and its suburbs), you’ll find Brandenburg on the western end of the map. Travel 90 minutes by train west of that Read more
HPAIR
Connecting Rural Malaysia to 4G
In HPAIR’s 2018 Asia conference I had the privilege of participating in a workshop with the World Bank in Malaysia to come up with a tentative policy proposal for providing internet access for rural Malaysia. The key issues are spotty Read more
Cities
Fürth, Germany
Adjacent to Nürnberg, Fürth doesn’t only have it’s own beer, it also has a Faber-Castell outlet and factory. When I was there they gave out free balloons reading “Einkaufsstadt Fürth” – shopping city Fürth. Though I would have to disagree, Read more
Cities
Bielefeld, Germany
In the 1990’s, there was a joke on the Internet about how someone could be from Bielefeld, but the phrase was mistake for something else. The Bielefeld Conspiracy was born and it had three questions: Have you ever been to Read more
Cities
Halle an der Saale, Germany
Leipzig, Eisleben, Wittenberg, are all a hop on a train, a skip past the countryside, and a step down onto the platform away from Halle, and all historically significant for the Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther visited frequently Read more
Cities
Münster, Germany
By some standards Münster is one of the most liveable cities in the world, by other measures it is one of the youngest cities in the world. With a population of just 300,000, more than 20% of those are university Read more
Germany
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
The first thing I want to bring to light is the widespread misuse of the world ‘holocaust’, it should only be used to refer to one particular incident, which is the systematic massacre of Jews, Romas, Sintis, the disabled, the Read more
HPAIR
Rohingya Resettlement Program
In HPAIR 2019’s Harvard conference, I participated in a challenge that prompted us to come up with a workable policy solution to an Asian humanitarian crisis. Leading this activity was the UNHCR and CARE from New York City and Washington, Read more
Cities
Seelow, Germany
When Chen and I went on our epic winter scooter trip from Berlin to Slubice, we passed by a peculiar little town with rich Soviet history – Seelow. It is located along the old country road that the Soviets used Read more