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MARTA NPR
Mar. 20th, 2007 | 10:39 am
Did anyone hear about MARTA on NPR yesterday? They were talking about the new technology they are using for the advertisements on the sides of the buses.
here's the story
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor
Ive only seen the ReMax ad.
.v.
here's the story
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor
Ive only seen the ReMax ad.
.v.
Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend
John Francis
Jan. 23rd, 2007 | 11:13 am
From the L.A. Times care of Ben.
His own silent spring
By John M. Glionna, Times Staff Writer
January 23, 2007
Point Reyes Station, Calif. — IN his determined style, environmentalist John Francis juggles a busy speaking schedule at schools, colleges and Earth-friendly conferences nationwide.
He's in such demand in large part because from 1973 to 1990, Francis refused to utter a single word, stubbornly keeping a vow of silence as a protest against pollution. He also swore off motor vehicles and walked wherever he went.
Francis engaged the modern culture he sought to change. A five-string banjo strung across his back, looking like a bearded roustabout from a Woody Guthrie anthem, he hiked across the country. He worked odd jobs to pay his bills and even taught classes without talking.
He stopped along the way to get bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, all in science and related environmental studies. He wore out 100 pairs of shoes.
Some people, including his own family, questioned his sanity. Still, Francis slowly gained national notoriety. He became the subject of hundreds of newspaper and TV stories in the communities he passed through. He was asked to give silent speeches in many towns.
Never compromising, he communicated in a colorful flurry of pantomime, eye contact, scrawled notes, poems, watercolors and banjo tunes.
For years, he didn't laugh. Instead, when the urge struck him, he slapped his knee in a gesture of mirth that unsettled many friends. When a college music composition instructor insisted he sing scales, Francis found a middle ground: He hummed.
Now he is 60, and wherever he goes, people ask about The Journey. Was he haunted by his own thoughts? How hard was it to begin speaking again after all those years?
"The first thing people want to know is, 'How did you make a living?' " he said. "They'll say, 'You talked out loud to yourself, right?' But I never did that."
People often ask if he went mute to shut the world out. But that wasn't the goal at all.
*
IN 1972, Francis drew the line on so-called modern progress.
Incensed by the havoc caused by an oil spill in San Francisco Bay, he decided to give up his "60-mile-an-hour habit." He lived in Marin County and began walking everywhere. At the start of his vow, Francis wasn't entirely sure what he was trying to accomplish. He hoped people would follow his lead in forgoing motor vehicles, but no one did.
Then one day he stopped talking.
"The silence was really meant to be for one day — as well as a gift to my community because I felt I talked too much — not to prove anything," he said. "As it went on, I realized that the vow of silence was really a gift to myself."
As Francis notes in a self-published book he wrote about his travels, even his own father questioned his so-called word fast.
"Things are difficult enough for black folks without you tying a stone around your neck," Francis' book relates his father, John, saying. "What do you think you're doing? Man, just stop this foolishness and start driving and saying something, because right now you ain't saying anything."
Still, his choice launched Francis on an odyssey.
In 1983, he began what he envisioned would be a silent one-man walk around the world. Along the way, he communicated with a mix of fluttering hands, bobbing, nodding and facial expressions.
Other times, he showed a piece of paper explaining his quest.
"This is to introduce John Francis, who gave up the use of motor vehicles not long after an oil spill in San Francisco Bay in 1972…. Since 1973, John has maintained a vow of silence."
His slip-ups were rare. Once he excused himself after accidentally burping in front of a fellow shopper in a grocery store. Alone in some motel, watching Charlton Heston as Moses raising his hands to part the Red Sea, he involuntarily gasped, "Oh, my God!"
Some people he met disdained him as another misguided wanderer looking for attention. Others offered him food and shelter. When money ran low, he worked odd jobs such as boat builder and printer. He sold paintings and watercolors he'd drawn on his travels. He played his banjo for handouts.
Along the way, he educated himself. He applied for scholarships and other funding. While he studied for his bachelor's degree in general studies at Southern Oregon State College in Ashland, locals impressed by his silence urged him to run for City Council. He declined.
Later, while earning his master's degree in environmental studies at the University of Montana, Francis taught classes without talking. He earned a PhD at the University of Wisconsin studying the societal costs of oil spills and their cleanup.
His classes were often a frustrating exercise in charades. "Sometimes, what the class thought I was saying wasn't what I meant," he said. "But what we finally agreed upon was better than what I meant."
Some professors wondered if Francis' antics were a way to dodge coursework. Others challenged him to his face.
"People came up and said they knew somebody, a grandfather or daughter, who was deaf and couldn't speak. They said, 'You can talk and you won't. You're a phony,' " Francis recalled. "I never argued with them. I tried to listen."
Still, the silence spoke to many.
"The power of John's statement is its intimacy," said Roger Dunsmore, a former University of Montana professor. "His choice of silence was deeply personal. He managed to teach something to just about everyone he came in contact with. About the environment and all the jabber of modern society."
Most students took Francis' odd teaching methods in stride.
"At first I didn't think it was fair our leader didn't talk, and that the other groups had ones that did," one student wrote in a teacher evaluation. "But all of that has changed and I feel that I have learned a lot more than I would have otherwise."
Meanwhile, Francis' idea of "the environment" changed. "At first it was all about oil pollution, loss of habitat, cutting down trees," he said. "It evolved into a deeper meaning: how humans treat each other when they meet, opening dialogues so we can talk about things like saving the Earth."
On each birthday, Francis asked himself a difficult question: Did his vow still feel right? Should he start talking again?
He chose Earth Day 1990 to break his long silence. The night before, he did his last silent interview, appearing on "The Charlie Rose Show" on PBS.
Then came the news conference in a Washington, D.C., hotel room, where Francis uttered his first purposeful sentence in 17 years: "Thank you for being here."
As his book, "Planetwalker: How to Change Your World One Step at a Time," describes: "The words are almost inaudible, the voice unrecognizable. I turn to see where the words have come from. There is no one standing behind me. I have spoken them. I wait for the lightning to strike, but it does not."
The day after the news conference, Francis was hit by a car in Washington, D.C., suffering a shoulder injury. But he stuck to his no-vehicle vow and talked an ambulance crew into letting him walk to the hospital.
Still, his life changed in unexpected ways when he reentered the speaking realm.
He was named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program. The U.S. Coast Guard hired him to help write oil spill regulations after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. He was in New Jersey when a Coast Guard official called to offer the job, asking him to report to Washington, D.C., immediately. Francis offered to ride his bike.
"OK," the exasperated official answered. "But hurry."
After that job, Francis kept walking. He crossed parts of Cuba and South America, reaching his starting point by sailboat.
One day in Venezuela, he had an epiphany that prompted him to ride in motor vehicles again after 22 years. It came while passing a barbed-wired penitentiary.
"I realized I had put myself in this box, this prison," he said, "and that I had to let myself out."
In the end, Francis' critics came around — even his father.
One day the elder Francis, an electrical lineman and foreman, turned to his son and suddenly said: "You know, I don't think you're crazy anymore."
*
ROBERT Holt was driving to meet the mime-like character he hadn't seen in nearly two decades. In 1989, as a reporter for the Gettysburg Times, he profiled John Francis as he passed through the historic Pennsylvania town.
Last year, en route to the reunion, Holt realized that he had never heard Francis speak.
"I stopped and bought him a tape recorder," said Holt, now a freelance writer. Francis accepted the gift, but Holt immediately saw his error.
"How could I give this man a machine?" he said. "His whole message is, 'Let's see how much we can do in life without all the machines harmful to our world.' "
Over the last two years, Francis has begun retracing the steps of his epic cross-country trip — walking sections bit by bit, time permitting. This time, though, he invites others, like Holt, to walk with him. And he's using Holt's tape recorder — as well as a digital recorder for podcasts from the road.
On this latest walk, he's coordinating with groups such as Rotary and the Lions Club to arrange speaking gigs on issues such as climate change and the environment, trying to do what he calls "creating a community."
Through his nonprofit group Planetwalk — http://www.planetwalk.org— ; he advocates Earth stewardship through human interaction. Francis may write another book on his second national walk. A feature-length film about his life is also in the works.
Meanwhile, he flies 100,000 miles a year for speaking engagements and works as an environmental consultant.
"In the end, John was honest with himself," said Dunsmore, the former University of Montana professor. "Can one man change the world by not talking? Maybe not. But John's little statement has snowballed. He's reaching people."
Today, Francis' dreadlocks are gone, and he drives a hybrid car around Point Reyes Station, where he lives and keeps an office. And The Journey continues.
His parents are both dead. Now he's the father of two young sons. This summer, he'll join Native American activists on a 2,000-mile canoe trip on the Yukon River to highlight Alaska's environmental causes.
At home, Francis starts each day with a four-mile walk, a solitary figure who still prefers navigating life at the contemplative speed of 3 miles an hour.
When he stopped talking all those years ago, the aim wasn't to "shut out people, but to experience my own silence."
And silence taught Francis something profound: the art of listening. He no longer tunes out speakers while mentally preparing his next remark. He won't stop listening altogether when he hears something that doesn't jibe with his own beliefs.
"I am still learning to listen," he said, "learning not to be afraid of hearing different voices, learning because I don't believe you ever really get there."
His own silent spring
By John M. Glionna, Times Staff Writer
January 23, 2007
Point Reyes Station, Calif. — IN his determined style, environmentalist John Francis juggles a busy speaking schedule at schools, colleges and Earth-friendly conferences nationwide.
He's in such demand in large part because from 1973 to 1990, Francis refused to utter a single word, stubbornly keeping a vow of silence as a protest against pollution. He also swore off motor vehicles and walked wherever he went.
Francis engaged the modern culture he sought to change. A five-string banjo strung across his back, looking like a bearded roustabout from a Woody Guthrie anthem, he hiked across the country. He worked odd jobs to pay his bills and even taught classes without talking.
He stopped along the way to get bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, all in science and related environmental studies. He wore out 100 pairs of shoes.
Some people, including his own family, questioned his sanity. Still, Francis slowly gained national notoriety. He became the subject of hundreds of newspaper and TV stories in the communities he passed through. He was asked to give silent speeches in many towns.
Never compromising, he communicated in a colorful flurry of pantomime, eye contact, scrawled notes, poems, watercolors and banjo tunes.
For years, he didn't laugh. Instead, when the urge struck him, he slapped his knee in a gesture of mirth that unsettled many friends. When a college music composition instructor insisted he sing scales, Francis found a middle ground: He hummed.
Now he is 60, and wherever he goes, people ask about The Journey. Was he haunted by his own thoughts? How hard was it to begin speaking again after all those years?
"The first thing people want to know is, 'How did you make a living?' " he said. "They'll say, 'You talked out loud to yourself, right?' But I never did that."
People often ask if he went mute to shut the world out. But that wasn't the goal at all.
*
IN 1972, Francis drew the line on so-called modern progress.
Incensed by the havoc caused by an oil spill in San Francisco Bay, he decided to give up his "60-mile-an-hour habit." He lived in Marin County and began walking everywhere. At the start of his vow, Francis wasn't entirely sure what he was trying to accomplish. He hoped people would follow his lead in forgoing motor vehicles, but no one did.
Then one day he stopped talking.
"The silence was really meant to be for one day — as well as a gift to my community because I felt I talked too much — not to prove anything," he said. "As it went on, I realized that the vow of silence was really a gift to myself."
As Francis notes in a self-published book he wrote about his travels, even his own father questioned his so-called word fast.
"Things are difficult enough for black folks without you tying a stone around your neck," Francis' book relates his father, John, saying. "What do you think you're doing? Man, just stop this foolishness and start driving and saying something, because right now you ain't saying anything."
Still, his choice launched Francis on an odyssey.
In 1983, he began what he envisioned would be a silent one-man walk around the world. Along the way, he communicated with a mix of fluttering hands, bobbing, nodding and facial expressions.
Other times, he showed a piece of paper explaining his quest.
"This is to introduce John Francis, who gave up the use of motor vehicles not long after an oil spill in San Francisco Bay in 1972…. Since 1973, John has maintained a vow of silence."
His slip-ups were rare. Once he excused himself after accidentally burping in front of a fellow shopper in a grocery store. Alone in some motel, watching Charlton Heston as Moses raising his hands to part the Red Sea, he involuntarily gasped, "Oh, my God!"
Some people he met disdained him as another misguided wanderer looking for attention. Others offered him food and shelter. When money ran low, he worked odd jobs such as boat builder and printer. He sold paintings and watercolors he'd drawn on his travels. He played his banjo for handouts.
Along the way, he educated himself. He applied for scholarships and other funding. While he studied for his bachelor's degree in general studies at Southern Oregon State College in Ashland, locals impressed by his silence urged him to run for City Council. He declined.
Later, while earning his master's degree in environmental studies at the University of Montana, Francis taught classes without talking. He earned a PhD at the University of Wisconsin studying the societal costs of oil spills and their cleanup.
His classes were often a frustrating exercise in charades. "Sometimes, what the class thought I was saying wasn't what I meant," he said. "But what we finally agreed upon was better than what I meant."
Some professors wondered if Francis' antics were a way to dodge coursework. Others challenged him to his face.
"People came up and said they knew somebody, a grandfather or daughter, who was deaf and couldn't speak. They said, 'You can talk and you won't. You're a phony,' " Francis recalled. "I never argued with them. I tried to listen."
Still, the silence spoke to many.
"The power of John's statement is its intimacy," said Roger Dunsmore, a former University of Montana professor. "His choice of silence was deeply personal. He managed to teach something to just about everyone he came in contact with. About the environment and all the jabber of modern society."
Most students took Francis' odd teaching methods in stride.
"At first I didn't think it was fair our leader didn't talk, and that the other groups had ones that did," one student wrote in a teacher evaluation. "But all of that has changed and I feel that I have learned a lot more than I would have otherwise."
Meanwhile, Francis' idea of "the environment" changed. "At first it was all about oil pollution, loss of habitat, cutting down trees," he said. "It evolved into a deeper meaning: how humans treat each other when they meet, opening dialogues so we can talk about things like saving the Earth."
On each birthday, Francis asked himself a difficult question: Did his vow still feel right? Should he start talking again?
He chose Earth Day 1990 to break his long silence. The night before, he did his last silent interview, appearing on "The Charlie Rose Show" on PBS.
Then came the news conference in a Washington, D.C., hotel room, where Francis uttered his first purposeful sentence in 17 years: "Thank you for being here."
As his book, "Planetwalker: How to Change Your World One Step at a Time," describes: "The words are almost inaudible, the voice unrecognizable. I turn to see where the words have come from. There is no one standing behind me. I have spoken them. I wait for the lightning to strike, but it does not."
The day after the news conference, Francis was hit by a car in Washington, D.C., suffering a shoulder injury. But he stuck to his no-vehicle vow and talked an ambulance crew into letting him walk to the hospital.
Still, his life changed in unexpected ways when he reentered the speaking realm.
He was named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Environment Program. The U.S. Coast Guard hired him to help write oil spill regulations after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska. He was in New Jersey when a Coast Guard official called to offer the job, asking him to report to Washington, D.C., immediately. Francis offered to ride his bike.
"OK," the exasperated official answered. "But hurry."
After that job, Francis kept walking. He crossed parts of Cuba and South America, reaching his starting point by sailboat.
One day in Venezuela, he had an epiphany that prompted him to ride in motor vehicles again after 22 years. It came while passing a barbed-wired penitentiary.
"I realized I had put myself in this box, this prison," he said, "and that I had to let myself out."
In the end, Francis' critics came around — even his father.
One day the elder Francis, an electrical lineman and foreman, turned to his son and suddenly said: "You know, I don't think you're crazy anymore."
*
ROBERT Holt was driving to meet the mime-like character he hadn't seen in nearly two decades. In 1989, as a reporter for the Gettysburg Times, he profiled John Francis as he passed through the historic Pennsylvania town.
Last year, en route to the reunion, Holt realized that he had never heard Francis speak.
"I stopped and bought him a tape recorder," said Holt, now a freelance writer. Francis accepted the gift, but Holt immediately saw his error.
"How could I give this man a machine?" he said. "His whole message is, 'Let's see how much we can do in life without all the machines harmful to our world.' "
Over the last two years, Francis has begun retracing the steps of his epic cross-country trip — walking sections bit by bit, time permitting. This time, though, he invites others, like Holt, to walk with him. And he's using Holt's tape recorder — as well as a digital recorder for podcasts from the road.
On this latest walk, he's coordinating with groups such as Rotary and the Lions Club to arrange speaking gigs on issues such as climate change and the environment, trying to do what he calls "creating a community."
Through his nonprofit group Planetwalk — http://www.planetwalk.org— ; he advocates Earth stewardship through human interaction. Francis may write another book on his second national walk. A feature-length film about his life is also in the works.
Meanwhile, he flies 100,000 miles a year for speaking engagements and works as an environmental consultant.
"In the end, John was honest with himself," said Dunsmore, the former University of Montana professor. "Can one man change the world by not talking? Maybe not. But John's little statement has snowballed. He's reaching people."
Today, Francis' dreadlocks are gone, and he drives a hybrid car around Point Reyes Station, where he lives and keeps an office. And The Journey continues.
His parents are both dead. Now he's the father of two young sons. This summer, he'll join Native American activists on a 2,000-mile canoe trip on the Yukon River to highlight Alaska's environmental causes.
At home, Francis starts each day with a four-mile walk, a solitary figure who still prefers navigating life at the contemplative speed of 3 miles an hour.
When he stopped talking all those years ago, the aim wasn't to "shut out people, but to experience my own silence."
And silence taught Francis something profound: the art of listening. He no longer tunes out speakers while mentally preparing his next remark. He won't stop listening altogether when he hears something that doesn't jibe with his own beliefs.
"I am still learning to listen," he said, "learning not to be afraid of hearing different voices, learning because I don't believe you ever really get there."
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Warning Your Bike will be Towed
Jan. 23rd, 2007 | 10:16 am
Apparently you can't ride up to the Georgia State Government building, the one on MLK where the Veterans Memorial is (the one with the porch swings).
Or your bike will be towed! I wonder if they have a tow-bicycle.
Or your bike will be towed! I wonder if they have a tow-bicycle.
Link | Leave a comment {1} | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend
Drive-Throughs
Jan. 2nd, 2007 | 08:20 pm
I have this idea for a funny short film on the US obsession with the automobile that documents someone's day and all the things they do using the drive-through.
For example: The people get up in the morning get some coffee at the drive-through chain coffeeshop, hits the bank drive-through for some cash, gets their prescription filled at the drive-through pharmacy, picks up their dry cleaning at the dry cleaner drive-through (I have seen these), but now they are hungry from all the driving around. So they head to the drive-through of their favorite fast food restaurant. Next they drop off their books at the drive-through book return at the library (Decatur has one), drop off their mail at a drive up post office mailbox, pull through a car wash, and swing by the package store drive-through. Finally, they end their day at the drive-in movie theater.
I ran across an article dated July 7, 2006 saying that KFC plans to open 100 drive-throughs in China in the next three years (they already have four operating). Not progress in my mind.
lrps
For example: The people get up in the morning get some coffee at the drive-through chain coffeeshop, hits the bank drive-through for some cash, gets their prescription filled at the drive-through pharmacy, picks up their dry cleaning at the dry cleaner drive-through (I have seen these), but now they are hungry from all the driving around. So they head to the drive-through of their favorite fast food restaurant. Next they drop off their books at the drive-through book return at the library (Decatur has one), drop off their mail at a drive up post office mailbox, pull through a car wash, and swing by the package store drive-through. Finally, they end their day at the drive-in movie theater.
I ran across an article dated July 7, 2006 saying that KFC plans to open 100 drive-throughs in China in the next three years (they already have four operating). Not progress in my mind.
lrps
Link | Leave a comment {2} | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend
Federal Appeals Court rules EPA has to enforce CAA
Dec. 29th, 2006 | 07:03 pm
If you ever wondered how Atlanta can get by promising to get back in compliance with the Clean Air Act and seemingly not ever making much progress on actually improving air quality, this all might have to change. However, a court ruling is far from the actual enforcement necessary so we will have to wait and see how the EPA actually implements it. How heavy a hand are the feds willing to take?
lrps
More breathing room
Ruling would lead to cleaner air in metro Atlanta, with added bonus of higher profile for mass transit
AJC editorial, Published on: 12/29/06
In a victory for everyone who breathes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the federal Environmental Protection Agency is too lax at enforcing air quality standards. If it stands, the decision could bring cleaner air, faster, to cities like Atlanta.
A welcome side effect is the likelihood that greater reliance on mass transit would have to be part of Atlanta's response to requirements of the federal Clean Air Act.
For years, metro Atlanta has received extensions after failing to meet deadlines for clean air standards. The court decision last week should force the state of Georgia to address the issue more aggressively, according to David Farren, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
"It makes more sense to deal with the problem than get an extension," said Farren. The state would have to produce a plan to improve air quality by a mandated level each year, he said. A strategy for dealing with transportation, which produces much of the emissions that contribute to smog, also would have to be addressed. No longer could Atlanta simply hope that the weather cooperates in the summer, when smog normally reaches unhealthy levels.
Both requirements are welcome. While metro Atlanta air quality has improved, it's not good. In fact, the American Lung Association ranks the city as the ninth most-polluted; there are days when Atlanta's air has been unhealthy even for individuals who do not suffer from asthma or other lung ailments.
In its ruling, a three-member panel of the appeals court held that under the Bush administration the EPA improperly relaxed air quality rules when it changed regulations in 2004. That left "too much wiggle room," according to Farren. The effect was to potentially delay improvements in air quality, he said.
If the EPA has the public's interest at heart, the agency will not appeal the decision, but accept the ruling and carry out its job of protecting citizens.
Lawmakers in Georgia can do their part by realizing that building more roads is not going to resolve metro Atlanta's air quality crisis. That leaves mass transit as the logical option to help clean up the air while easing traffic congestion.
There be will room for individuals to contribute to cleaner air, too. Car-pooling, using mass transit and walking or bicycling when possible instead of driving will help.
Everyone who breathes needs to take part.
David McNaughton, for the editorial board
lrps
More breathing room
Ruling would lead to cleaner air in metro Atlanta, with added bonus of higher profile for mass transit
AJC editorial, Published on: 12/29/06
In a victory for everyone who breathes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the federal Environmental Protection Agency is too lax at enforcing air quality standards. If it stands, the decision could bring cleaner air, faster, to cities like Atlanta.
A welcome side effect is the likelihood that greater reliance on mass transit would have to be part of Atlanta's response to requirements of the federal Clean Air Act.
For years, metro Atlanta has received extensions after failing to meet deadlines for clean air standards. The court decision last week should force the state of Georgia to address the issue more aggressively, according to David Farren, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center.
"It makes more sense to deal with the problem than get an extension," said Farren. The state would have to produce a plan to improve air quality by a mandated level each year, he said. A strategy for dealing with transportation, which produces much of the emissions that contribute to smog, also would have to be addressed. No longer could Atlanta simply hope that the weather cooperates in the summer, when smog normally reaches unhealthy levels.
Both requirements are welcome. While metro Atlanta air quality has improved, it's not good. In fact, the American Lung Association ranks the city as the ninth most-polluted; there are days when Atlanta's air has been unhealthy even for individuals who do not suffer from asthma or other lung ailments.
In its ruling, a three-member panel of the appeals court held that under the Bush administration the EPA improperly relaxed air quality rules when it changed regulations in 2004. That left "too much wiggle room," according to Farren. The effect was to potentially delay improvements in air quality, he said.
If the EPA has the public's interest at heart, the agency will not appeal the decision, but accept the ruling and carry out its job of protecting citizens.
Lawmakers in Georgia can do their part by realizing that building more roads is not going to resolve metro Atlanta's air quality crisis. That leaves mass transit as the logical option to help clean up the air while easing traffic congestion.
There be will room for individuals to contribute to cleaner air, too. Car-pooling, using mass transit and walking or bicycling when possible instead of driving will help.
Everyone who breathes needs to take part.
David McNaughton, for the editorial board
Link | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend
NEPH Conf
Dec. 7th, 2006 | 12:27 am
Yesterday I had the chance to go to the National Environmental Public Health Conference in Atlanta. I went to the early plenary sessions to hear this guy speak. His panel was really encouraging to me as I try to navigate my way through the overlap of public health and urban planning.
Please check out his link and listen to some of the things he has to say from this radio interview (link above).
.v.
Please check out his link and listen to some of the things he has to say from this radio interview (link above).
.v.
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interactive bike map
Dec. 4th, 2006 | 03:09 pm
I found this site today through the SOPO site. It is an interactive google map interface that allows you to enter your own bike routes. pretty sweet.
Let's grow this.
http://www.wayfaring.com/maps/show/1049
.v.
Let's grow this.
http://www.wayfaring.com/maps/show/1049
.v.
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New MARTA Maps
Nov. 29th, 2006 | 10:06 am
Has anybody seen the new MARTA maps on the trains? I have seen two new ones recently on my way to and from the airport for Thanksgiving break. One was the standard blue (E-W) and orange (N-S) but with a couple added lines. A few were bus lines, maybe attempting to identify new BRT routes. I think they also had proposed NEW rail lines on the map. The second map I saw had several new colors. One was green (I think) for the Procter Creek line between Candler Park and Bankhead. The other difference was using separate colors for the Doarville and North Springs lines. This is sort of misleading since half the time you half to take all north trains to Lindburgh in order to catch the North Springs.
Even though this change didn't reflect any radically new service options for users I was more impressed than I had ever been by the maps. I think it explains a lot that was previously left to the user to figure out. It made our transit system look more substantial. I couldn't find any images on the website but I will try to take a picture next time I'm on the train.
this is a cool site that has nothing to do with these new maps
.v.
Even though this change didn't reflect any radically new service options for users I was more impressed than I had ever been by the maps. I think it explains a lot that was previously left to the user to figure out. It made our transit system look more substantial. I couldn't find any images on the website but I will try to take a picture next time I'm on the train.
this is a cool site that has nothing to do with these new maps
.v.
Link | Leave a comment {2} | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend
people vs. planners
Nov. 28th, 2006 | 09:45 am
Here is a recent article out of Seattle about new ideas to locate residences and jobs in the same place. The article reports that people just aren't doing what the planners had intended for them to do. Nothing new there. It seems that people would rather spend less money on their homes and more money on cars and fuel. They must also prefer stress and lost time spent commuting to a bigger mortgage (and possibly more equity).
How can this change?
Should it change?
Let me hear it.
.v.
How can this change?
Should it change?
Let me hear it.
.v.
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More Danger to Bicyclists
Nov. 11th, 2006 | 10:49 am
So this morning I was riding my bike through downtown up to Tech to work on a paper I am writing on bicycle-vehicle interactions at signalized intersections. There was lots of police activity and it took me a moment but I realized it was Veterans Day and they were setting up for a parade. I was stopped at a red light on Marietta and I got hit by a cloud of pepperspray. At first I thought something got in my eye but then both eyes started burning. I have been in the vicinity of pepperspray before and the feeling is pretty unmistakable - sort of like your face is burning and you tear up. When I could again, I looked around and no one else seemed to notice. There were two cops standing on the corner casually talking. I couldn't tell where it came from or why. My eyes stopped burning enough and I was able to ride the rest of the way to Tech. But when I got here I made the mistake of trying to wash my face and just washed more pepperspray into my eyes. The whole thing seems totally random.
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Acting on Wacky laws
Nov. 9th, 2006 | 12:49 am
Here's an entry from another blog describing a bike parking violation.
weird.
http://www.cyburbia.org/node/351
.v.
weird.
http://www.cyburbia.org/node/351
.v.
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Danger to Bicyclists
Oct. 16th, 2006 | 02:30 pm
I am trying to figure out how to report this dangerous grate to the City of Atlanta Public Works/Transportation Department.
If you are riding south on Peachtree St at the corner with West Peachtree (the southern time they cross)
you have to swerve out into the traffic lane to avoid the hole.
Which, judging by the plant life, has been there for a long time.
And is large enough to swallow your bike tire and deep enough to really hurt when you come crashing down.
Luckily I know where it is and take the lane before I reach it, but it is an incident waiting to happen.
If you are riding south on Peachtree St at the corner with West Peachtree (the southern time they cross)
you have to swerve out into the traffic lane to avoid the hole.
Which, judging by the plant life, has been there for a long time.
And is large enough to swallow your bike tire and deep enough to really hurt when you come crashing down.
Luckily I know where it is and take the lane before I reach it, but it is an incident waiting to happen.
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The New Fast Food Nation
Oct. 11th, 2006 | 11:54 am
China developed a robot that can cook. I shouldn't be suprised, any trip into McDonald's is a cacophony of machine beeps and whistles.
As Engadget said, "You are now obsolete."
Chinese news Story
But is this good or bad? I have noinclination one way or the other.
.v.
As Engadget said, "You are now obsolete."
Chinese news Story
But is this good or bad? I have noinclination one way or the other.
.v.
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An Advertisement for Commercials
Oct. 5th, 2006 | 05:40 pm
Probably my favorite thing on TV is commercials. I think they are the most original and creative thing going. I find it troubling that such energy is put into convincing us to consume, but there are also a few good campaigns out there who are not selling anything (TRUTH). Short video is a great format for short stories. Don't get me started on music videos, they're great... some of them. It seems that it is much harder to write a sustained story that is interesting and perhaps why we lack good TV.
Also commercials represent an interesting part of pop culture. I love to watch commercials in other countries and try to figure out how they fit into that place. They play over and over and get in our heads. They also have patterns and changed depending on what you're watching. I like picking up on the audiences they are focusing on.
South Park - Video games and iPods
Football - Erectile dysfucntion drugs and beer
Oprah - plugin air fresheners and vacuums
And some take on an identity of their own. Who could forget what a brain on drugs looks like. A new one that sticks with ya is HEAD-ON (apply directly to forehead). Another is the series of VW commercials that show accidents from inside the car. Both ad campaigns have recently put out new commercials which talk about the earlier commercials inside the commercials themselves.
I started writing this whole thing because of one commercial that has been on my mind a lot lately. Probably my favorite at the moment is from IBM. It shows a guy go to the kitchen in the middle of the night, he is having trouble sleeping because of a problem he needs to solve at work (IBM can probably help). We are supposed to assume he's important, maybe a CEO. He's trying to cut a loaf of bread for a bite to eat. This is all unexciting but it's what the narrator says. Think about the guy who invented sliced bread. He didn't invent bread. He didn't invent slicing. He just found a new way to use the tools he already had.
I try to remember that often.
.v.
Also commercials represent an interesting part of pop culture. I love to watch commercials in other countries and try to figure out how they fit into that place. They play over and over and get in our heads. They also have patterns and changed depending on what you're watching. I like picking up on the audiences they are focusing on.
South Park - Video games and iPods
Football - Erectile dysfucntion drugs and beer
Oprah - plugin air fresheners and vacuums
And some take on an identity of their own. Who could forget what a brain on drugs looks like. A new one that sticks with ya is HEAD-ON (apply directly to forehead). Another is the series of VW commercials that show accidents from inside the car. Both ad campaigns have recently put out new commercials which talk about the earlier commercials inside the commercials themselves.
I started writing this whole thing because of one commercial that has been on my mind a lot lately. Probably my favorite at the moment is from IBM. It shows a guy go to the kitchen in the middle of the night, he is having trouble sleeping because of a problem he needs to solve at work (IBM can probably help). We are supposed to assume he's important, maybe a CEO. He's trying to cut a loaf of bread for a bite to eat. This is all unexciting but it's what the narrator says. Think about the guy who invented sliced bread. He didn't invent bread. He didn't invent slicing. He just found a new way to use the tools he already had.
I try to remember that often.
.v.
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Pollution? Traffic? ... I got just the thing.
Oct. 5th, 2006 | 07:35 am
I recently read this article from the Phillipines about some traffic (congestion) related pollution problems they were having. Their short-term solution to mitigated the pollution problem was to shut down a major Road in the city. While this is noted as a temporary measure, it illustrates a key difference between their strategies vs. ours.
They go right for the behaviors. Other suggested mesaures regard things like changing parking in the city. Our attempts at changing congestion-related pollution include, reformulated gasoline, newer cars and mall on top of parking lots. The closest we come to something like this is 'suggesting' that people carpool or fill up their tanks at night. In Santiago I had a chance to observe one way they try to curb traffic. Each day of the week two numbers will come up and if your license plate ends in that number you can't drive that day.
I like the attention to the behaviors that these strategies focus on. Our technological solutions probably result in more well-defined changes but I am not sure about the sustainability of either approach. Imagine placing a MPG standard on cars that is enforced on consumers instead of producers or waking up a hearing that its illegal for you to drive today. If you are not sure what you would do in that situation you need to figure it out.
.v.
They go right for the behaviors. Other suggested mesaures regard things like changing parking in the city. Our attempts at changing congestion-related pollution include, reformulated gasoline, newer cars and mall on top of parking lots. The closest we come to something like this is 'suggesting' that people carpool or fill up their tanks at night. In Santiago I had a chance to observe one way they try to curb traffic. Each day of the week two numbers will come up and if your license plate ends in that number you can't drive that day.
I like the attention to the behaviors that these strategies focus on. Our technological solutions probably result in more well-defined changes but I am not sure about the sustainability of either approach. Imagine placing a MPG standard on cars that is enforced on consumers instead of producers or waking up a hearing that its illegal for you to drive today. If you are not sure what you would do in that situation you need to figure it out.
.v.
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Urban Design and Fallout Shelters
Sep. 20th, 2006 | 09:27 am
It is important to consider the urban design implications of your fallout shelter, luckily the City of East Point provides direction in their zoning code:
Sec. 10-2076. Fallout shelter exceptions.
A fallout shelter constructed in accordance with government standards so as to provide protection to occupants from nuclear explosion and radiation shall be considered an accessory use when located within a principal building.
Notwithstanding other requirements of this regulation, fallout shelters may be located to within five (5) feet of any rear or side lot line. When located forward of the building line, fallout shelters shall be constructed underground, with any appurtenances which project above the ground provided with appropriate screening from the general view. No part of the structures shall be constructed forward of the building line except in case of necessity, nor within fifteen (15) feet of front property line of thelot.
(Ord. No. 1084-94, 9-6-94)
Sec. 10-2076. Fallout shelter exceptions.
A fallout shelter constructed in accordance with government standards so as to provide protection to occupants from nuclear explosion and radiation shall be considered an accessory use when located within a principal building.
Notwithstanding other requirements of this regulation, fallout shelters may be located to within five (5) feet of any rear or side lot line. When located forward of the building line, fallout shelters shall be constructed underground, with any appurtenances which project above the ground provided with appropriate screening from the general view. No part of the structures shall be constructed forward of the building line except in case of necessity, nor within fifteen (15) feet of front property line of thelot.
(Ord. No. 1084-94, 9-6-94)
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High Density, Low Logical Reasoning
Sep. 14th, 2006 | 04:40 pm
One of my professors sent this article from last week's AJC out to my class as an example of the quality of local debate. It is an opinion piece and the author makes an (in my mind illogical) argument on the connections between density and congestion. Let’s improve the quality of local debate.
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Public Health school
Sep. 12th, 2006 | 11:53 pm
So far studying public health at Emory is really interesting to. I hope it stays that way. Everything seems new and amazing and engaging. I am not sure if I remember Tech being the same last year. Planning school seemed more old hat after coming from a job in a planning department and participating in a number of conversations with other planners (which undoubtedly turn to characterizing cities around the US and their transportation systems or the latest in alternative fuel growing compost heaps). While I am trying to combine the foresight of both fields to create more healthy planned environments in which to live, at the moment I am immersed in public health and thoroughly enjoying it there.
Beside the curriculum, the schools themselves are quite different and so are the student bodies. I'm not saying it's good or bad because there are things I both love and loath about both schools, but right now it's just new and fresh. One of my classes, global health policy, is taught by a guy who worked with the CDC team in Africa to eradicate smallpox and the co-teacher of the class is known for pushing the inclusion of essential nutrients and vitamins in fortified flour. Thinking about their contributions to global health makes me feel very small. The challenge of being a part of projects like those seems enormous but finding an area of need so great is not the problem. They are quick to assure us that if we are ready to work there are always problems of magnitude that exist. And the world seems so much bigger talking about these new problems (new to me anyway). Comments in our discussions come from Mozambique and Laos and sometimes I am not sure what I can add to a debate.
If you have an hour to listen, check out this lecture (not from class). It was assigned to us before the 2nd class session and I was surprised and impressed by what I heard. This is the reason I wanted to post about this class. Enjoy
Related page:
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/massey/massey20
.v.
Beside the curriculum, the schools themselves are quite different and so are the student bodies. I'm not saying it's good or bad because there are things I both love and loath about both schools, but right now it's just new and fresh. One of my classes, global health policy, is taught by a guy who worked with the CDC team in Africa to eradicate smallpox and the co-teacher of the class is known for pushing the inclusion of essential nutrients and vitamins in fortified flour. Thinking about their contributions to global health makes me feel very small. The challenge of being a part of projects like those seems enormous but finding an area of need so great is not the problem. They are quick to assure us that if we are ready to work there are always problems of magnitude that exist. And the world seems so much bigger talking about these new problems (new to me anyway). Comments in our discussions come from Mozambique and Laos and sometimes I am not sure what I can add to a debate.
If you have an hour to listen, check out this lecture (not from class). It was assigned to us before the 2nd class session and I was surprised and impressed by what I heard. This is the reason I wanted to post about this class. Enjoy
Related page:
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/massey/massey20
.v.