For Bryan Fisher, the view at work has been pretty unbeatable lately. The 33-year-old bridge painter from Hudson, New Hampshire, has been working on the Longfellow Bridge renovation project, a $300 million project that has lasted five years. The bridge recently reopened to car, bike, and pedestrian traffic, but finishing touches are still being put in place. “My job has taken me to quite a lot of great places, inaccessible to the public,” Fisher told Boston.com in an email. “In that, it often blesses me with once in a lifetime visuals, scenery and angles. It can be both exciting and gratifying, and I consider it a perk of the job.” Fisher said while at work, if he finds himself in a spot with good “potential” for a unique photo, he’ll take a mental note and take the picture later on his own time, usually on a lunch break. “It’s not all the time, just when the moment strikes,” he said. On Friday, such a moment … [Read more...] about A painter working on the Longfellow Bridge project shared this photo of the Boston skyline
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Researchers: Silk Road projects give China strategic benefit
HONG KONG (AP) — A massive Chinese infrastructure program that Beijing says is aimed at promoting global trade and economic growth is actually intended to expand the country's political influence and military presence, according to a report issued Tuesday.The report by the U.S.-based research group C4ADS questions China's portrayal of the trillion-dollar program, called the "Belt and Road Initiative," as strictly meant to promote economic development.President Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy program, it is working to reinforce China's links to Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa through networks of roads, ports, railways, power plants and other infrastructure projects.C4ADS, a nonprofit research institute that specializes in data analysis and security, examined official Chinese policy documents and unofficial reports by Chinese analysts to analyze the intentions of Beijing's ambitious economic development program, which seeks to connect 65 percent of the world's population in … [Read more...] about Researchers: Silk Road projects give China strategic benefit
Tips for project managers with remote workers
More and more companies are learning that remote workers can actually be a more effective investment than in-office workers. Allowing employees to work from home—either on a rotating basis or full-time—minimizes the number of employees in your office, which can reduce overhead costs, cut down on office distractions, and allow your employees to be more productive when illness or personal emergencies prevent them from coming into the office.But if all or part of your team is working remotely at any given time, how can you collaborate on a project and ensure that things get done on time? How do you prevent items from falling through the cracks?Here are 4 tips for effectively managing your remote team to ensure that you still work like a well-oiled machine:Cloud-based document managementRemote workers and physical documents simply don’t mesh. If you’re going to manage a project with remote workers, all of your documents need to be digitized and kept in some kind of … [Read more...] about Tips for project managers with remote workers
Forest City developer Country Garden plans HK$23.5b bond, share sale to cut debt
[HONG KONG] Chinese property developer Country Garden Holdings said on Wednesday it plans to raise HK$23.5 billion (S$3.97 billion) through the sale of new shares and convertible bonds to reduce debt and provide working capital.Country Garden said it plans to issue 460 million shares to its major shareholder Concrete Win Ltd at HK$17.13 apiece. Concrete Win would pay for the new shares once it has sold the same amount of its existing Country Garden shares at the same price, it said.The developer said it also planned to issue HK$15.6 billion worth of bonds convertible into 758.90 million shares at HK$20.556 each to third-party buyers.Once the share sale and bond issue are completed, Concrete Win's stake Country Garden will be reduced to 54.79 per cent from 57.93 per cent at present, it said.China property stocks were among the best performers in Hong Kong in 2017, propelled by robust sales, with Country Garden climbing 270 per cent. The strong growth has raised some concerns about high … [Read more...] about Forest City developer Country Garden plans HK$23.5b bond, share sale to cut debt
Bike sharing rejigs model for Japan to avoid sidewalk clutter
[TOKYO] Bike sharing has a lot going for it. It's mass transit that's ultra-cheap, burns body fat instead of fossil fuels and is adored by venture capitalists. But the business model has hit a major snag: parking.Stringent laws against sidewalk clutter --and cultural sensibilities that are easily offended- make the problem more acute in Japanese cities than in places like Munich or Melbourne, where bicycles are piling up outside subway stations or turning up under bridges, sometimes to the dismay of neighbors and city officials.Bike sharing took China by storm in 2016, quickly became a novel tech export, and is now facing backlash even in environmentally-friendly places where you'd expect it to be embraced. That's why the industry's biggest players are treading lightly in Japan, a country where free-form bicycle parking is outlawed and authorities routinely haul away bikes even if it means snipping locks.Beijing Mobike Technology last month announced a partnership with the owner … [Read more...] about Bike sharing rejigs model for Japan to avoid sidewalk clutter