Latitude 42: Tech For Transit

A few weeks ago the Livable Streets Alliance told me about a chance to go car free for a week by participating in a research study put on by Latitude on the future of transit in metro areas. The long term goal is to help create better urban transportation experiences and a more sustainable transit system. I was also offered a chance to discover my city in new ways and a 1 in 10 chance of winning an iPad.

Some of the rules for entering include:

• Must use car regularly (no car-share members)
  
• Must live and work within the Boston metro areas
• Must be able to carry out normal, everyday activities without a car by using alternate transit methods (walking, biking, public transit, ride-sharing, etc.—anything but driving)
• Must be available for the study (willing to not drive a car at all) from Monday November 1st to Sunday November 7th
• Must be willing to participate in surveys and interviews before, during and after the week of the study

Over the next week I will be posting my progress in a private Facebook Group and here at this blog.

Weekly Lunch Menu From My Work

This is an actual lunch week menu from my work for some week last November. They had an efficient way of using steak.

Monday: BBQ Steak
Tuesday: Beef Fajitas (Steak from Monday cut up)
Wednesday: Steak and Onions (Steak from Tuesday cut up more)
Thursday: Meatloaf Wellington (Steak from Wednesday ground up)
Friday: Chop Suey (Reused leftovers from the week)

Road Signs in Massachusetts

How to read Road Signs in Massachusetts

Stop - Yield if you want
Speed Limit - Speed Minimum
Speed Minimums - ?
Merge ---> Stop
One Way - If you want to go the other way, just put the car in reverse
Lane Markings - Drive wherever you want

I knew the Hadron Collider was a bad idea ...

How did this sinkhole happen? Global warming? Experiment at CERN gone wrong? Accidental divide by zero somewhere? Someone forgot to pour foundation? Giant sandworm from Arakis? HAARP at work?

A better question is where did all the stuff go? The bottom looks empty.

An even better question is how do you fix this? Throw all your municipal trash in it as a convenient landfill option? Can they just put a large metal plate over it?

Mavizen TTX02 Electric Superbike

First motorbike in the world to ship with integrated IP connectivity. Runs open source Linux with USB for peripherals. Where can I buy it?

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

2009 Four Square World Championships

It is that time of year again ... The 2009 Four Square World Championships will happen up in snowy Bridgton, ME on February 28 from 5:00 to 9:00pm. Once again, they will be hosted by the Lakes Environmental Association. It is open to the public both to play and spectate and registration only costs $10 which includes pizza, snacks, and beverages. This is the one time a year where you can see over a hundred of the greatest Four Square players from all over the World. Rumor has it that Tiger Claw (pictured above) will be there to take down the defending champion from Canada. More information can be found on the official Four Square website. If you cannot make it all the way to Maine, you can follow the event on Twitter.