Don't Drive Stupid

http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/wayoflife/11/16/driving.stupid/index.html#

It's official, most of the people on the road today really are bad drivers.  At least if the definition is, "Could you still pass your driver's test?"   1 in 6 people would fail outright.  But 85% failed the question about what to do at a yellow light.  Maybe they could ask the person on the other end of the cellphone that's glued to everybody's ear these days.  "Hey man, I'm approaching a yellow light, what should I do?"

I think it would be funnier to ask people what to do at a red light and see how many fail that.  Because I tell ya, every morning I see a few people who don't appear to know.

My home state of Massachusetts came in near the bottom at 48 out of 51.  New York is dead last.  Idaho is the best.

Boston Commuter Rail Apparently Stinks

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/11/21/30_percent_of_commuter_rail_trains_late_in_october/

People are talking around my office about how late the commuter trains are.  At least 30% of trains run 5 minutes late. 

Personally I'm thinking, "5 minutes?  Really?  You're fuming over 5 minutes?  5 minutes longer on the train is just 5 more minutes of work I get done." 

Public Service Announcement : Prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis

[Thanks to Andrew at Jobacle.com for sending over this story.]

Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, can occur when you sit in one place for too long a period.  And it can kill you.  That's not good.

It's normally a problem more related to airline travel, but I wanted to post here as well since people can just as easily pack into the car and drive for 10 hours around the holidays.

For more information on DVT, visit http://www.economyclasssyndrome.net, who sent out the original article.

Japanese Melody Roads

Via BoingBoing comes the story of melody roads (in Japan, of course) which play a tune when you drive over them.  Some neat bit of technology?  More  a case of creative engineering.  You ever drive across one of those "rumble strips", a series of grooves cut into the road as a warning that you're veering too close to the edge?  Depending on your speed, you'll hear a different noise in the car (the faster you cross it, the higher the noise).  So it's only a pattern of patience, creativity and the resources to do it that would involve mapping out grooves in the road itself so that, when driven at the proper speed, you'd hear a tune.

Not really sure what the benefit would be to justify the amount of time and effort to make it happen, but it's a cute idea.  I'll take my ipod.

Driving Meditation

Courtesy of Jobacle.com we have meditations on driving by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh.  We're not talking about doing the Om Mane Padme while sitting in traffic.  More like "opportunities for mindfulness."  I particularly like this bit:

When we see a red light or a stop sign, we can smile at it and thank it, because it is a bodhisattva helping us return to the present moment. The red light is a bell of mindfulness. We may have thought of it as an enemy, preventing us from achieving our goal. But now we know the red light is our friend, helping us resist rushing and calling us to return to the present moment where we can meet with life, joy and peace. Even if you are not the driver, you can help everyone in the car if you breathe and smile.

That's a good one.  It's a particular peeve of mine as I watch people plow through red lights every day and, quite frankly, I wish firey death upon them every time.  Such times are good opportunities for me to focus on my own state of being and not worry so much about the other guy.

Google At The Gas Pump

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/07/google.pump.ap/index.html#

Ok, I find this brilliant.  You ever stop at one of those gas pumps that has a full video screen built in, and makes you watch a commercial?  You ever pull into a gas station to ask for directions?

Two great tastes that taste great together. 

How about putting Google Maps onto the pump itself?  While you're gassing up, get a fresh set of directions to your destination.  Or maybe to a local hotel, or restaurant.  Including a printout.

Absofreakinlutley brilliant.

Some Fascinating City Data Statistics

http://www.city-data.com/top2/toplists2.html

I had a hunch when I bookmarked this that it would turn up some interesting statistics for us.  Check it out:

 

Top 101 cities that people commute into (largest positive percentage daily daytime population change due to commuting) (population 5,000+)

 

Top 101 cities that people commute from (largest negative percentage daily daytime population change due to commuting) (population 5,000+)

Top 101 cities with the most people walking to work (population 5000+)

Top 101 cities with the most people leaving home to go to work at strange times (12 PM - 5 AM) (population 500+)

Top 101 cities with the most people driving a car to work alone (population 5000+)

Top 101 cities with the least people driving a car to work alone (population 5000+)

...

There's actually quite a bit more.  Neat stuff!

Where does your city rank?  I found Boston at #18 on the "Top Cities for taking the train to work".

MIT "City Car"

http://www.news.com/MIT-offers-City-Car-for-the-masses/2100-13833_3-6217039.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news

What do you think about a small, electric, two-seater vehicle for getting around town?  To park it you collapse it down and slide it into a space with 8 other similar vehicles.  That's the general idea behind MIT's "city car" prototype. 

The theory seems like a geeky take on an existing idea here in Boston, the "zip car", where you essentially borrow a car to get from A to B and then leave it someplace for the next guy.  Very handy for people that just need to get around town.  For instance, maybe instead of walking from the train station to Boston Common, I take one of these babies.  Of course that doesn't solve the traffic problem, it just concentrates it in a smaller space. 

I particularly like the idea of making them easy to park, though.  That's always difficult in a city like Boston or New York.  (I worked once with a guy from Russia, who had just moved to Massachusetts.  One Friday afternoon when discussing weekend plans he was mocking us, saying "I can't believe you live so close to a great city like Boston and you're not in there every weekend!  There's so much to see and do!" and then on Monday he came into the office saying "Where the %^&*( are you supposed to park?" :))