THE BYTE

Welcome to the BYTE, where we serve up the latest home and tech news from the last week for you to sink your teeth into.

This week we’re taking a BYTE out of the movers, the U.S. infrastructure, new gadgets, the internet, and working from home. Dig in!

Generally

Warming Up To The Idea

New Census Bureau information was released about where people were moving to and from last year, and it turns out people are sick of the cold and ready to warm up.

Feeling Hot Hot Hot

The counties that grew the most in 2016 were pretty much all in warm, sunny places except for the area around Seattle which is the expectation to the rule. As you might have guessed pretty much all of these people are from the cold Snow Belt regions. Another interesting stat: 40% of San Franciscans are thinking about leaving in the near future. Expensive housing, frustrating traffic, and cost of living are the biggest complaints and that the city isn’t addressing these issues well enough.

Build ‘Em Up

Before They Come Crumbling Down

Every 4 years, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) grades the American infrastructure. The results this year? A whooping D+. The grade came out a little bit ago but the ASCE reminded everyone that our streets/roads are not doing well. At all. The report said 2 out of every 5 miles of road are congested and that wastes billions in time and fuel. They say it is going to take $2 trillion to steer us into the right direction and get us back on the road to a good grade.

Take Notes

Escaping From Reality

New gadgets seem to do a good job of distracting us from what is going on around us. Enter the Samsung Galaxy S8. The new flagship phone is Samsung’s hope for competing against the new iPhone, not yet released, and to make people forget about some old phones that exploded off the shelves. In other fun, distracting tech news, there is now a VR experience where you actually “feel” like you are a tree growing in the forest.

Where Do You See Yourself In 5 Years?

That’s the question Pew research is asking the internet. Pew complied their findings from a survey about the internet as well as getting expert opinions on where the internet will head in the future. The reactions were mixed but it was a pretty consistent belief that there will always be “trolls” online, or people who go online just to mess with other people. Many worry that too many trolls will lead to the internet becoming a hate driven and divisive place much worse than some think it is now.

Home Work

Polycom, a communications company, finished a new study which found that 66% of people said their favorite co-worker didn’t work in the same office as them. They found that when talking to someone who was working from home they perceived more of a “real” connection. Also online conversations such as video calls were seen as less intimidating than real meetings so people were more relaxed and authentic.

Totally Unrelated

Monday Motivation

The classic Rocky scene gets a live action remake, which we all didn’t know we needed, and will make any day better.