Here’s a search engine that is age-relevant. Grandad may want to be aware…
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Poor use of Logo
I was popped into the Safe Roads.org website today, looking for some traffic safety data. I found this logo.
My very first thought was, “What is ‘dvocates in ction?’”I like the A-on-a-warning-sign logo, but I don’t think using it for a letter in a word is appropriate. If we’re training drivers to see and obey signs, we shouldn’t be training to interpret them as letters in other environments.
That’s my ten cents.
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Southern Hospitality III
Professor Felipe Fernandez-Arnesto has weighed in(registration required) concerning the stories of his alleged abuse during a routine encounter with a police officer in Atlanta. In this opinion piece in the AJC, he outlines his side of the encounter and his opinions about his treatment both by the officer and the rest of the legal process in Atlanta.
Unfortunately, he is relating this incident in what he perceives as a larger context of executive privilege and abuse promulgated by the Bush Administration. I think that he’s going a bit far with his perceived parallels. It would be difficult to discern effects that the Bush Administration would have had on a local city police officer. He’s only been in office 6 years after all. That’s a lot of trickle-down in a short time period, even if Bush believed in that philosophy.
As I noted in previous posts, the british historian was arrested for jaywalking after allegedly refusing to obey police directives. There are two sides to this story, of course, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution finds it just as intriguing as I do.
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This Week in Traffic: 12 Jan 2007
Infrastructure Multitasking
Scottsdale, AZ is using traffic signals for cell towers.
Problems with Centralization
Los Angeles city employees allegedly snarled up traffic from the traffic management center for reasons related to a union action. They’ve pleaded not guilty.
Traffic Food Signals
Traffic signals aren’t just for Traffic, you know.
Port of Miami Terrorist Scare
The port of Miami shut down container movement within the port due to some suspicious activity. This sort of thing can directly impact the price of the food you buy if you live in the southeast U.S.
Stop Sign Additives
Stop! Hammer time! I in no way advocate the defacement of stop signs, “but if I did, this is how I would do it.”
Interstate 3
I-3 is a proposed interstate highway linking Savannah, GA with Knoxville, TN. It would follow the route of the Savannah River Parkway from Savannah to Augusta, GA, then continue over undesignated routes to Knoxville.
I oppose this Interstate for two reasons: One, it goes right through the middle of the Chattahoochee National Forest and the Smoky Mountain National Park. Two, it’s named incorrectly! I-3 is designated as such to honor the 3rd Infantry Division based in Georgia. But, I-3 should be in California! The Origin of the interstate system is in the southwest and the numbers march upwards as you go farther east and north. There are some notable exceptions, but this one would take the cake. What if California needs a new number between the coast and I-5?
De-cluttering the Georgia State Map
Many small towns have been removed from the latest edition of the Georgia State Highway Map. You might imagine that this has raised an uproar. Even Governer Perdue has weighed in (well, maybe I should say, “especially Governor Perdue”). GDOT has since reversed their decision, and will be restoring the communities to the next year’s map.
Transportation Disasters
This (poorly written) article from Forbes discusses the increasing potential of transportation disasters due to growing capacities per vehicle. It’s easier to have a disaster if an Airbus A380 crashes than a DC-9. There! I’ve summed it up; you don’t need to read it. If you do read it, you will notice that near the bottom the author passes through the mantra that “speeding is death!” and quotes Bill Graves, the President and CEO of the American Trucking Association.
“There is a need to slow down traffic,” says Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Association. “The trucking industry is trying to do its part with this initiative. No vehicle should be capable of operating at excessive speeds on our nation’s highways.”
Of course, what is “excessive speed?” And trying to raise or lower motorist speed has been futile in the past. It also hasn’t been shown that raising or lowering the speed limit (which I acknowledge isn’t the same as what is in the quote) doesn’t affect crash rates (sic).
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Irish Switching Sides?
Of the road, that is…
This popped into my feedreader today. Normally, I would include it in my weekly traffic posting, but I believe that it (potentially) deserves its own entry.
According to grandad, Ireland will be switching from left-side driving to right-side this summer. Unfortunately, a search for some official statement or speech to this effect turns up nothing. I’ve asked for a reference, or at least a confirmation that this is a joke. Once that is supplied, I’ll pop it in here.
But, I’m inclined to think that this is a joke because of this:
Initially, all buses and articulated vehicles will move to the right to allow for a period of adjustment. Car owners may opt to make the switch themselves on an individual basis, depending on their level of confidence.
Call me small-minded, but I don’t see a transition period working so well. In the spirit of jokingness, it would be quite funny, but in the spirit of seriousness, it would be ridiculous not to mention dangerous.
Posted elsewhere is a reference to this wikipedia article covering a similar transition in 1967 in Sweden.
My skeptical nature comes rampantly to the fore when I read blog entries like this with no citations. But, I will apologize in advance to grandad if my googling skill is merely inadequate to the task of producing the necessary citations on my own.
Edit 10:25: As noted in the comments, this was indeed a joke by grandad. Make sure you take a look at his potential impacts during the period of transition…
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Southern Hospitality II
Like wikipedia articles, breaking news stories are best left to sit and smoulder until the facts come out.
Yesterday, I passed along quotes from an AJC article concerning the arrest of a British historian for jaywalking.
Well, there’s another story today, with the officer insisting that he used an “excessive amount of discretion.” Here’s the link to the story (registration required). To sum up, the professor claims abuse, the officer claims snootiness, and given the statement from the police department, “He is an oustanding officer,” said Maj. James Sellers. “We’ve never had a complaint about him before,” I’m inclined to go with the officer on this one.
But wait! There’s a nail in this coffin that I can personally attest to! One of the professor’s original claims was that the officer was not in uniform. However, he was working part time directing pedestrian traffic across a busy downtown street at the Hilton. I’ve seen many officers working this same duty, and they are always in uniform. Take that, British historian! Hah!
Still, not good publicity for Atlanta, which retains the title of “Most Tacky Olympics.”
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There Is No Hope…
…as long as journalists use phrases like this: (from the NY Times)
Referring to a new test rocket by Blue Origin (an experimental spaceflight company).
When the company performed the first test launching on Nov. 13, it made no announcement.
And that was it, pretty much, until last week, when the Blue Origin Web site (www.blueorigin.com) showed the first pictures and video of a gumdrop-shaped test craft, dubbed Goddard, rising from the West Texas launch site to 285 feet and then, eerily, returning gently to the pad.
[emphasis added]
Eerily? Why is it “eerie” to see something go up, then come down under control? Helicopters do it. Birds do it. Planes do it. Parachutes do it! Hell, the Russians have been doing it since the late 60’s!
Blah blah blah. Here’s another good quote from this article:
The Goddard has a science-fiction sleekness. Videos show the craft taking off and landing again with a loud whooshing sound.
Science fiction sleekness? Whooshing sound?! Does anyone at the NY Times actually watch science fiction? Did they pay any attention to the moon race, because I’m not seeing any extraordinary features on this image.
I agree that it’s sleek, but “science-fiction sleekness?” And don’t get me started on “whooshing sound.” That’s ridiculous.At least the article mentions that this craft looks similar to the DC-X which was a government funded project to develop an uncrewed single-stage-to-orbit vehicle. Probably because some of the same engineers working on the DC-X were hired by Blue Origins.
When will space enthusiasts stop getting second tier columnists? Of course, John Schwartz of the NY Times has been covering space and technology for a while, but that does not excuse him for using such trite phrases as are in this article.
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Southern Hospitality
Atlanta Police handcuffed and jailed a British author in town for a conference. His crime? Jaywalking.
Here are some choice quotes from the AJC article (registration required).
Fernandez-Armesto said. “I asked him what his authority was because I didn’t see a badge. Where I’m from you don’t associate young gentlemen in bomber jackets with the police. But he was extremely upset I had questioned his bona fides.”
and
Fernandez-Armesto was taken into custody, where he spent the next eight hours along with “extremely unfortunate members of the underclass.” He was fingerprinted and mug shots were taken. “It was an extremely traumatic experience,” he said. “I was in a state of paralytic fear,” he said. “My livelihood is dependent on coming over to the U.S., and any record would’ve ruined my way of life.”
and
“That was my first morning here,” he said. “I must say I didn’t get to experience the Southern hospitality I’d heard so much about.”
I love “extremely unfortunate members of the underclass.”
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Cube Farm Samurai!
I don’t work with any of these people. In fact, I can honestly say that there is no one I (currently) work with that I dislike. Amazing, isn’t it?
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Commenting Adjustment
Some of you may have noticed that your comments have been stuck in the moderation queue. I had the spam paranoia filter on eleven.
I’m turning it down a bit. We’ll see if this improves things. You’ll still have to have at least one approved comment per email address before your comments will go through, though.
The Evil Eyebrow
There is no knowing the Evil Eyebrow
Twenty Twenty-Five
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