The Evil Eyebrow

  • "Oh What Fun, it is to drive…"

    In case you’re new to me or this blog, I am a traffic engineer. Better yet, I’m a certified traffic engineer: a Pee-Toe (PTOE, Professional Traffic Operations Engineer). This involves doing several different things like studying how new construction will effect affect existing traffic patterns. Typically, we look at the current year, whatever year the construction will occur, than then some arbitrary horizon year, like 20 years out.

    One of our tools is called Corsim CORSIM, and leaving out all the niggly details, we get pretty simulations like this:

    Corsim Simulation of a mess at an interchange.

    Argh. What a mess. Methinks I need to work on how the signals are timed at the intersections you see.

    1311 Update: What a terrible job I did writing this. Look at all those grammar errors…

  • Cirque du Soleil

    Corteo! By Cirque du Soleil.For our office Christmas party, we attended Corteo as put on by Cirque du Soleil.

    We found out afterwards that the show was about a clown imagining his own funeral. It was a masterful panoply of color, light, and movement. It would have been worth the $65 seat costs, if we’d had to pay for them. From the opening scene with four acrobats acrobatting on three chandeliers to the woman swinging around by one ankle dangling her (male) partner by the other—in a full split—I was impressed.

    I highly recommend Cirque du Soleil if it’s ever nearby to you!

  • Traffic Camera = Doh!

    I got this off of Fark.com. Apparently, there is a citation-issuing speed camera in Wales that has been causing serious traffic congestion due to drivers slamming on their brakes to avoid being over 50 MPH (says the article).

    First question: 50 MPH? Not 80 KPH?

    Second question: (more of a comment really) “heh heh heh HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

    As a traffic engineer, I’m heartily amused by this situation. Oh, in hindsight this makes perfect sense. And (also in hindsight) they should never have placed a speed camera where they did. However, the article goes on to mention that:

    “Being so close to a junction it causes a lot of congestion where there is not a history of accidents,” Assembly Member Alun Cairns told the BBC. “Westbound congestion of a Friday evening regularly tails back in excess of five miles because people brake through instinct on observing the camera even when they are traveling within the speed limit.”

    The Welsh Assembly Government will not consider raising the speed limit or removing nearby speed cameras.

    It seems that the congestion is relegated almost entirely to the area of this interchange. I would think that there would be some congestion at every single one of the mentioned cameras, not just the one at the interchange. Given that many studies have shown that drivers will not respect a speed limit they regard as too low, I would expect to see a series of pulse-congestion as the free-flowing vehicles hit each of the well-known speed camera locations.

    I’ll have to look into this and see how well it’s operating. Mainland Europe treats their speed controls much more sanely. They raise and lower the speeds dynamically to ensure maximum efficiency of travel, not to enforce some arbitrary speed limit.

  • Battlestar vs. Star Destroyer

    Another mashup found on Youtube, this one is well done. It perfectly illustrates why deep space combat as done (mostly) in Battlestar and (almost entirely) in Star Wars is silly. Self respecting admirals would not place their main combatants (i.e. Battlestars and/or Star Destroyers) in such close proximity to each other unless there was no other alternative. With the jump drive for battlestars and the light-speed option for star destroyers, I can’t think of any deep space possibilities where one side or another would be entirely without options for withdrawal.

    But it makes for good cinema. Having an Honor Harrington-esque battle would be rather boring on screen.

    Also found on Youtube, next to the previously mentioned mashup, is this vast overarching space battle with every fictional spaceship ever put on TV or cinema. It is amusing, and especially so when the Leonov from 2010 makes an appearance.

    I’m thinking I need a new tag: “fanboy!”

  • Torture and Pain

    Once again I ask myself, “Why are you torturing yourself by switching to Dvorak?” And torture it is. I’m used to typing about as fast as I can compose; right now I’m going at 1/10th speed. Ack.

    So, day 4 and things are painful. I need to spend some time practicing.

  • Now hiring Geeks

    I posted this geek poem on my door at work:

    Roses are #FF0000
    Violets are #0000FF
    All my base
    Are belong to you

    And nobody here gets it! We need more Geeks!

    15 December 2006 update:
    ThinkGeek is where I first saw this poem

  • More Google Sightseening

    Here is a Google Maps image of a cruise ship that capsized due to a typhoon. Wow…

  • Comment Moderation

    Be aware that if you post a comment you may be held in the moderation queue for a little while. I’ve made some adjustments to the approval process to cut down on spam. It should only happen to each person once.

  • Keyboard Shortcuts

    If you are ever searching, like me, for new ways to make life with MS Windows easier (and you’re married to the keyboard), try this link.

    It contains nice keyboard shortcuts that include the funky windows menu key to the right of the right-hand ALT key. Some nice ones for calling up windows or minimizing them with minimal mouse movement.

  • Dvorak & Me!

    Through a feat of excepional boredom, I’ve decided to learn how to use the Dvorak keyboard. The Dvorak layout is supposed to be more efficient, faster, and easier on the carpals. I won’t try to argue one way or another, I will merely point you to the google search.

    I will point out, though, that switching from QWERTY to Dvorak after 20 years of typing is terribly annoying. I’m so slow!!! Why do I do things like this? Of course, it’s only day 2

The Evil Eyebrow

There is no knowing the Evil Eyebrow

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