How Technology Changed the
Way the Blind Live and Work

The blind and visually impaired face tremendous challenges in learning to live without sight. Current and emerging technologies are knocking down barriers and providing blind men and women the opportunity to succeed in careers, education and hobbies that most sighted people believe requires vision. But despite the advances, an alarming number of visually-impaired people still experience difficulty in finding work and feeling empowered in a sighted world.

Produced by Floraine Berthouzoz and Nick Burns

Boozing It Up in San Francisco’s Hippest ‘Hood

San Francisco’s Mission district is home to dozens of bars, saloons, clubs, taverns and watering holes. Find the cheapest drinks, the darkest dives, the hottest date spots and the longest happy hours in town.

Want to sit outside and sip your PBR? Feel like dancing? Hungry? It’s all here. Learn the ins and outs of the Mission’s best-known bars plus the hush-hush hubs only locals have discovered.

About the Authors

Clayton Trosclair and Nick Burns are two well-traveled barflies and cocktail connoisseurs in San Francisco.

To download the App from the iTunes App Store, click here.

A virtual, multimedia exhibit of Oakland-based artists and artist-run galleries.

Click here to view the project.

Video Production by Nick Burns, Caitlin Esch, Dara Kerr and Tyler Sipe
Flash Design and Production by Nick Burns and Floraine Grabler
Photography by Caitlin Esch, Dara Kerr, Tyler Sipe and iStockPhoto

Illustration by David Dana

Visions for Reusing the Bay Bridge

As most people are focusing on the construction of the new Bay Bridge—slated to be finished by 2013—others are thinking of ways to reuse parts of the old one. Inspired by New York’s High Line, an old railway turned into an urban park, Bay Area architect Ronald Rael is proposing to save the eastern span of the Bay Bridge from demolition and reusing it for a project he calls the Bay Line, a site that could include parks, swimming pools, and housing. Although it’s only an idea, the Bay Line project has started a wider debate on how cities around the world could reuse historical structures like the Bay Bridge.

Produced by Nick Burns, Helene Goupil and Amanda Dyer

View the project here.

Bay area chefs are hitting the streets, bringing high-end food to the hungry masses. They reach new customers on Facebook, and announce their daily locations on Twitter. And they’re taking street eats to the next level. In San Francisco, you’ll find escargots, crème brulee, and gumbo.

Click here to view the project.

Videos by Allison Davis, Amanda Dyer, Helene Goupil, Adelaide Chen, Mateen Kaul, and Ayako Mie

Web Design and Production by Nick Burns, Tasneem Paghdiwala and Armand Emamdjomeh

Monzen-Nakacho—Monnaka to the locals—lies low, laced by canals that flow into Tokyo Bay. It’s a refuge from the formality of central Tokyo. And it typifies Japan’s sense of drift: fewer children, dying businesses and flagging faith.

Night Snacks by Nick Burns

Shigemi Masuda is a quick-change artist whose wooden cart becomes a semi-private tent of intimacy each night. He’s a purveyor of oden — traditional boiled fishcakes, turnips and bean curd. A slow stream of people trickle into his street stall, usually as their last stop on a night out.

To view the full project, please visit The Washington Post.

Web design and production by Nick Burns

Originally published by The Washington Post on September 4, 2009.

Ten interactive features about Japanese and Japanese Americans on both sides of the Pacific. Tokyo is passing through a moment of political and social confusion as a new generation prepares to confront a world with less. From love to labor, Japan fashions new ways to cope, as its economic might inevitably erodes. In San Francisco, the old take solace in their culture. Newcomers arrive in search of opportunity and love.

After the Camps by Nick Burns

California was once dotted with more than 40 Japantowns – communities built by generations of immigrants who were prohibited from owning land.  During World War II, more than 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry in America were forced into camps.   Uprooted and isolated, sometimes viewed as hostile enemies, they learned to cope.  When Molly Miyako Kimura was freed, she found her town transformed.

Waist Watchers by Nick Burns

The Japanese government wants to trim fat from its health care system.  It hopes to slash ballooning medical costs by preventing more cases of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.  So it’s asking overweight citizens to diet.  Still, some people want the freedom to be fat.

Visit WashingtonPost.com to view the full project.

Web design and production by Nick Burns

Originally published by The Washington Post on September 4, 2009.