trains

The U.S. government awarded $2.4 billion in funding last week to 54 railroad projects across 23 states in the U.S.

This latest round of funding is in addition to the $8 billion that was awarded in January as part of the comprehensive public works project to construct the "first nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service."

The funds are going toward new railroad lines and stations, as well as efforts to update and refurbish existing ones to coalesce with the high-speed plan announced in January as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

In this round of funding, Florida received $800 million to build a high-speed railroad connecting Tampa and Orlando with train speeds reaching up to 168 mph at some points along the route, making the trip under an hour compared with 90 minutes by car. The state's ultimate plan is to extend the line from Orland down to Miami, according to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Iowa received $230 million to hook into a new intercity passenger service that would connect Iowa City to Chicago and points in between.

California, known for its heavy traffic congestion, received $901 million, of which $715 million will be spent on a new high-speed railroad across its Central Valley. The state's ultimate goal is to have a high-speed passenger service reaching speeds of 220 mph at some points between San Francisco and Los Angeles that would run 2 hours 40 minutes compared with 6 hours by car, according to FRA statistics.… Read more

The dream of a London Underground network that's totally Internet-connected is getting a step closer to reality, as BT announced that Charing Cross would be the first Tube station to have Wi-Fi access.

The service is due to start today and will be trialed for six months, allowing people to log on to the Internet from Charing Cross ticket hall area, as well as the Northern and Bakerloo line platforms. There won't be access in the actual trains, apart from a few seconds when the doors are open--or if your train is stuck.

Read more of "Charing Cross is the first London Tube station to receive Wi-Fi&… Read more

I am not the kind of person who needs to read the help pages on Web sites--at least most of the time. But the same cannot be said for a lot of folks I know. In fact just this past weekend I was showing someone in their late-60s (who is quite smart, I might add) where the full screen button was on YouTube.

In that same vein is a new site called Grovo, which breaks down how to use popular Internet sites into short, two-minute video tutorials. Included are places like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs, Craigslist, and even Yelp.… Read more

When Steve Jobs announced the MacBook Air a couple of years ago, I thought it was an incredibly sleek device that incorporated some great ideas about the coming age of cloud computing. Though the specs for the device weren't up to today's standards (they change so fast!), my main takeaway was that the MacBook Air was a great computer, but was just a few years before its time.

Just today, CNET's Erica Ogg wrote that someone familiar with Apple's plans says we're going to see a slimmed-down, cheaper MacBook Air at next Wednesday's Apple event. Erica goes on to talk about possible specs and pricing, wondering where a new MacBook Air will fit in Apple's laptop lineup.

My question to readers is, what would you be willing to pay for a slimmer (and probably more powerful) MacBook Air? Certainly you'll still likely be able to get a Windows laptop that's cheaper, but considering current prices for Apple computers, what is a fair price for a sleeker, more cloud-based Mac laptop?

Let's make it a contest. Here's my guess for the actual price of the Macbook Air that might be announced on Wednesday: $999. Give me your best guess in the comments and on Wednesday we can come back to see who's closest. Winner gets bragging rights!

This week's apps include a ringtone creator that uses MP3s from your library and an exciting puzzle game for wannabe train conductors.… Read more

If you're a kid growing up in Japan, chances are you dig comic books and trains. In the western Tokyo city of Akishima, you can indulge in both by reading manga in a vintage bullet train that's now a kids' library.

The converted 0 series Shinkansen has been drawing kids to the Akishima Library since 1992. Little tykes can kick back on the carriage's 25 seats and read from a collection of some 10,000 books.

As seen in the video below, kids can also play engineer in the train driver's compartment. The library is popular … Read more

If you were hoping that the right software could make you smarter, you may be out of luck.

Brain training software, such as Nintendo's Brain Age, are often touted as a way to improve your smarts. But 11,430 people who played such games for several weeks didn't seem to be any brighter at the end, according to the results of a study conducted by the BBC and released Tuesday.

The investigation launched by the BBC last September challenged viewers of the BBC One science TV show "Bang Goes the Theory" to use a series of … Read more

It's been pretty much one great thing after another for Steven Holcomb since winning the bobsled gold at the Vancouver Olympics. Well, at least until this week.

Holcomb, who is a big-time computer nerd and video gamer, discovered that his prized Xbox 360 and games had been stolen out of his car. And while the $4,000 worth of gear and games has him a little queasy, what really makes him sick are the hundreds of hours of saved games that he had on the console.

"It's like a death in the family," Holcomb said in … Read more

In this tough job market, selling yourself takes more than a bachelor's degree. Journalists are expected to know some HTML and even basic video-editing skills. Administrative assistants need to be Microsoft Office experts. And, if you're building an online property, you better have a lot of technical skills.

Taking classes at a community college is the obvious solution, but there's also Lynda.com, the online training resource for all of the above skills. At $25 a month, Lynda.com provides 748 courses for subjects like Photoshop, Microsoft Office, CSS, Google Apps, and Flash. The website even covers … Read more

WHISTLER, B.C.--Steve Holcomb stood proud as he and his bobsled team were honored with the Americans' first gold medal in that sport in 62 years.

Then, offstage, he did his now famous Holcy dance. Unfortunately, CBS doesn't have broadcast rights, so I can't show you that. But I will put a YouTube video at the bottom so you can get the idea.

In an interview, Holcomb told me that he's done a lot of crazy things in his life, but said, "this is a better high than anything." The huge adrenaline rush makes … Read more