n effort to bring together artists and scholars to make positive contributions to civil society. "Students who are interested in the humanities sometimes become discouraged because they don't see the contribution they can make," said Sommer. "We tell them, no, you are precisely what is needed to make social investments, to develop a web of cultural activities that weaves together civil society." Cultural Agency carries out this work by hosting conferences, lectures, and workshops, and by coordinating internships, publications, and academic learning with community service.

more than 40 million Americans work outside an office. "We believe our country, our society, our economy is on the cusp of a once in a century shift in how, where, and why we work," co-working is more than just a post-recession fad among freelancers. A growing number of corporations are experimenting with workplace mobility. The global consulting firm Accenture lets employees use an app called LiquidSpace to book co-working sites.

After all the testing and analysis, one system stood head and shoulders above the others: the ZoneFlex system from Ruckus Wireless. I remember in particular one of the graphs comparing the performance of the various systems under heavy load. The other systems showed a jumble of jagged lines representing drop-outs, while Ruckus sailed smoothly through with none.