Author: vargocity

TUPIDA

This is my new name for Atlanta’s transit system (www.itstupida.com). I am on the verge of – make that in the middle of – a MARTA rant. After moving and finally settling into the new school schedule I am testing out my multi modal options to and from the new house. I began my experimentation with a two key assumptions based on prior experiences: the 6 goes to Candler Park and the 45 runs between Emory and Midtown. (note: go to the text description of these routes or look on the main system map to see why I thought my assumptions held)

I should have added a third assumption, MARTA does not work. Consider website as proof. I always like the example of the Tourist Loop Logo. Well done by MARTA to harness some of the power of this medium to make their presentation more engaging. Their little moving gif’s for ‘o’s in tourist and loop add a nice touch. But the two in loop are moving backward just like the entire authority. The structure of MARTA is like something out of Mega Man video game plot. Dr. Wylie designs a machine that creates chaos and calls it MARTA.

So as for my experiment… The 6 has been changed to go to Inman Park and the 45 now goes to Candler Park instead of Emory Village. You can find this on the schedules but obviously the message from the website and paper maps at stations is mixed and confusing. I am noticeably bitter and biased in my assessment of MARTA. I am sure they has reasons for changing the routes, and I probably even had opportunities to take part in meetings that helped determine the fate of the routes. But changes should be promulgated throughout the system and users should have access to information that is up to date, clear and correct.

Tegna un gran dia.

Bollards

While researching bike bollards for our home, I found this treat. I should probably have posted it on the metrojungle blog but it was too good to pass up.

These bollards were recently installed in Manchester, UK to keep cars out of the bus only lanes. Watch what happens when drivers try to sneak in. Maybe we need a few of these in a 17th Street Bridge redesign.

Thank You (read in computer voice) MLK

On Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, my family (visiting from Michigan) and I went to the Georgia Aquarium. It is a painful irony that on this day all the white-collar jobs have the day off and all the retail positions have to report to duty. My dad and I took a trip to Lowes and witnessed the whole situation with clarity. As I was driving and it is my town, I choose the radio selection. First I went to 89.3 and found that they were playing MLK speeches mixed with James Brown’s “Say it Loud”. I really liked it. On the way home I was delighted to find another speech playing on another station. Later in the day we got in the car again to go to the aquarium and I found another recording of a speech. This one was about all the negative synonyms for the word black and all the positive meanings for the word white and the subtle but repetitive, if not relentless ways the Negro has been taught to think less of himself and more of the Caucasian. I found listening to the speeches very thought provoking and a great way to squeeze in some reverence for Dr. King even though it was inadequate. No one else in the car seemed to thin the same. My dad asked me a few times to change the station.

The aquarium was much like the trip to Lowes; another venue held open on the holiday. This facility is different, however, the workers are not too strained. Which leads me to the thing that brought about this entry. the woman taking tickets at the entrance the the aquatic carnival that is the Georgia Aquarium. She takes your ticket and scans it just like at a sporting event or concert but the computer next to her chimes in and says “thank you” and you walk past. The scanner technology took the eye contact out of such a social transaction; focusing the attention of the employee on the bar code of the ticket and removing the handing back and forth of the ticket which would normally include some, albeit brief, face time. This latest innovation takes another facet of the exchange and completely removes it. It adds a new dimension (or rather removes one) to unteraction (non-interaction). I don’t like to think about jobs being taken by automation, but any thoughts of it are usually short lived because I can also think of tons of new jobs that exist today because of similar technologies. It is almost harder to think about giving people jobs that they are not needed for. Watching them try to do them may be even harder.

Regardless MLK Day in the ATL passed and he remains as much a fascinating and admirable figure as ever.

Pick Me Up

Rarely do I come into contact with celebrity. I have heard that all Atlantans have a Lenox Mall story about a sighting of Usher or Michael Vick, but the closest I usually get is seeing Lil Jon in his courtside seats at the Hawks game on the jumbotron from the nosebleed section. Sometimes I hear about a friend of a friend tied in with the news, but even this turns sour. Like when a guy I go to school with told me that he knew the ‘church-burning Alabama boys’ form his frat. Today I am proud to say that I know someone involved in something that is getting some positive press. My sister-in-law works for DK publishing (the visual publisher). She is part of a team which promotes a book called Pick Me Up.

This is a great new educational book for children and teens but is really interesting for anyone who has the curiosity to take the title’s advice. Recently it was featured the Today show and it also made the New York Times Children’s Bestsellers List. The first time I picked up the book I was skeptical but after I got into it I found it very intriguing. We passed on a copy to a friend of ours who is a kindergarten teacher and she loves it. It’s great to find an educational source so versatile across age groups. Kudos to the authors, but also to DK and Susan (my new contact with glamor) for endorsing good work.

This Christmas brought us into contact with another great book from DK. Now I can’t wait to see what DK and Susan will come out with next.

Sky Mall

Every now and then you have to surprise yourself. Take an unexpected path so that not everything you encounter is what you planned. It makes you think on your feet, expands your understanding of things going on around you and could inspire some creative thought.

On that note I picked up the Sky Mall on the plane today. I like looking at this magazine every now and then to see what inventions have been dreamed-up recently. It seems like SkyMall has become a repository for new inventions that fail to make it into the stores I often find myself in. Though I must admit that I have seen noticed a few of the products out in ‘the real word‘ since picking up my copy of SkyMall. Below I discuss some of my favorites; great gifts for next year’s holiday swaps.

The iPod seems to be a popular focal point for many of the items in the catalog. The breadth of accessories that have been schemed around this single item startles me. You can see that one such accessory is even featured on the cover above: the always popular iPod VW bug alarm clock. Seems a bit unnecessary, but different people have different needs. I do think the VW Beetle owners of the world like to take a certain pride in their choice of vehicle and like to keep flowers in their car. But I have a hard time figuring out who needs the iPod on the toilet. In the bathroom? Fine, but why not just buy one of the portable docks with speakers that are so common and well designed and just keep it in the bathroom?

(I have not doctored this picture in anyway, this is how it appears in Sky Mall.) I have to guess that the attention to detail and quality in many of the products is lacking because it comes across in the magazine’s production. Take this product for example, the giant-size world map. Who wouldn’t enjoy spending hours with their children explaining the wonders of history and culture with this amazing backdrop. Giving them a better of idea of how diverse the world is and stimulating new thoughts in their little heads. Showing them there are alternative paths to take, different ways to live life. “OK, Suzie, here is South America where indigenous culture was destroyed by the Spanish. The Spanish came across the Atlantic Ocean from the west(?) and landed here…” Maybe this a map from the future, they left off the polar ice caps.

When you’re not teaching your children about the world we live in, you’ll want to do your best to protect them from it. That’s where the next product comes in. This child locater allows you to find your child instantly with the press of a button, effectively ending his hide and seek career. This newest model is free of all the old wires you’ve become used to and best of all fits on child inconspicuously disguised as a giant lady bug. Apparently, they’ll love wearing it and you’ll love not paying attention to where they are until you’re done talking to the other moms and you’re ready to leave the playground. A must have.

Finally we have the water weights. If you’re like me you are rapidly running out of room for all your weights. Now there’s a way to make weights when you need them using only your kitchen sink. Plus you can take you weights with you on business trips. Screw the hotel gym, you’ve got water weights. Actually, I like the thinking behind this idea but included it because of the picture, the guy’s arm is huge.

Next time you’re on the plane and you can’t use your VW iPod accesories due to electronic device restrictions pick up the Sky Mall and dare to dream small.

P-trak

The last seven (7) days I was taking care of some work study I have been meaning to tend to for some time. This break in school and travel and buying a house was the opportune time to schedule the 7 days this task required. By the end of it I had covered 1,600 miles and been in a minivan for 56 hours but had not gone a single place.

It is all part of the winter monitoring phase for a study to evaluate exposures to indoor air pollution (mainly particulates) in specific microenvironments. In-vehicle exposures is part of this so we rent a minivan and drive around while the air around is being monitored. Other settings for sampling include the grocery store, hospital, bookstore and home. The sampling periods are eight hours and the work needs to be done for a full week in each environment. Here is an absolutely poor picture of the machinery.

I do not work alone. My partner in crime – we are not committing the crime, but rather having a crime committed against us, it must be against the law to ask anyone to spend so much time in a car going nowhere, but they’re from Harvard so they’re untouchable – is Ajay. Most fortunately we got along swell. Primarily because we teamed up to focus our anger collectively at other drivers, pedestrians, ridiculous homes, billboards, and the machinery itself. One piece of equipment was particularly bothersome with its malfunctions, specifically its constant demands for more alcohol. 100% isopropyl alcohol that is. This machine is the P-trak. A couple of times it claimed our iPod capabilities in the car because in order to silence the beep, which I can hear if I close my eyes, need to plug the tape adapter into its headphone jack. Yes, it has a headphone jack to really feel those lo-alcohol warning beeps whenever you’re out doing some ultrafine particulate monitoring. The machine was by far the most problematic and most involved part of the sampling.

Besides changing out the alcohol, there is little else to do but drive. You probably can not imagine how 56 hours on Atlanta roads feels in one week. COMPLETE LOOPS OF 285. Listening to the traffic to find the accidents and then try not to avoid them. Maybe the GDOT HERO units know how it feels. Or at least they knew after the first week and by now they are completely insane.

We did get to see some very interesting parts of the city (numerous times). Parts you would normally never visit. We took exits you wouldn’t ever take with time you’d never have. I feel like I know Atlanta a bit better now. We got to watch Peachtree change over the course of 8 hours. 2PM is much different from 6:30AM. We got some experience with monitoring indoor air quality and earned a little money. And I have to admit I had a pretty good time and have a newfound appreciation for not looking at this every morning.I think I just heard a beep.

Your Name Here

I was in Borders last night trying to find a gift for the upcoming Yankee Swap at Lauren’s mom’s pad for the holiday when I came across a gem. I faintly remember seeing once before after Googling my name or something, but it was altogether different to see it in the flesh, so to write. It was settled in the New Age section, branded with a peace sign and carrying my name. It turns out that there is a German music-making collective known as Vargo who put out soothing sounds for chill-house compilations such as Cafe del Mar and Buddha Bar. Trying to decide whether I should pick this up or e-mail them to request a free copy.

Rollin’ on 700s

In a culture where the bigger your rims are the more respect you get, why is the bike not more popular? The question is a bit absurd but let’s consider it for a minute.

  • If you’re into cruisin’ you don’t need the speed. Granted, you wont have a TV or loud music bumpin’ but everyone will be able to see you flossin’
  • The weather is perfect. Most nights in Atlanta are great for riding a bike and having the wind blow in your face.
  • That brings me to the next point that it’s like a convertible but better.
  • There are not that many hills and the ride wouldn’t be too strenuous. I already mentioned the speed, but would like to add that most cruising (any worth doing) occurs on Peachtree, which was built on a ridge line and is the highest point in most parts.
  • I guess I forgot that there is a small sub-culture of blingin’ bikers out there cruisin’ lowriders with big handle bars and 200 spokes.

In the meantime, you can find me rollin’ on 700s (ccs).