Subway Perception

Grok Headline matches for Subway Perception

perception

perception 03/22/2005 04:37 PM
A short list of neat things to see.
-Bird's-eye Views of NPS Cultural and Historical Sites
-Bee eye views
-Solar pics and movies
-Ma natee

Fun with perception

Fun with perception 03/14/2005 05:36 PM

I just got off the weirdest plane flight. It started in line to get my ticket. The guy two people in front of me was checking his bag and casually leaned down, picked up a wastebasket and began to hurl into it. Odd, but it happens to all of us, sometimes.

After I got into the plane, I noticed Mr. Hurl was two rows in front of me and soon after we started off, his sickness continued. But before the vomit vapors could reach me, I couldn't help but notice the plane filled with the most pungent of other bodily vapors. It didn't take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out the nervous sweaty guy looking all around across the aisle was probably to blame. After just a few more minutes passed, the beverage carts began rolling and the woman in front of me, trapped from the bathrooms at both ends by carts, decided to change her baby's diaper on the seat immediately in front of me. No lie.

These seemingly random, everyday things combined into a sort of "perfect storm" that resulted in the worst case of stink plane I've experienced. I wondered if I could survive the next two hours.

But something amazing happened soon after. A flight attendant manning a cart pulled out a big bag of Foldgers brew, poured half a water bottle through the unused coffee grains and into a stack of paper towels. She then took these coffee-grain soaked towels and walked the length of the plane several times, wiping the sides and undersides of the luggage compartments. Suddenly I was whisked away from the bowels of the stinkiest plane on earth to the tasty hills of columbia. I could swear I saw Juan Valdez picking coffee beans out the window below.

The flight wasn't that bad from there on out. My hat's off to flight attendant's MacGuyver-esque skills in saving us from hours of smell torture.

The Immaculate Perception

The Immaculate Perception 03/13/2003 10:23 AM
I've learned a lot of things about myself from this blog. Before I blogged I'd never kept a record of my thoughts, a diary or a journal and I suppose, because of that, my sense of self-awareness was rather short-range. Meaning I wasn't able to biologically index and recall (note to self: this is a cool way to describe 'remembering stuff') sufficient of my thoughts at any one point in time to see patterns, trends or behavioral tendencies develop clearly enough to recognise them as anything other than singular, disconnected, random thoughts.

That's not to say that I had no sense of self-awareness prior to blogging, more that blogging has helped me recognise aspects of my personality and what makes me tick and it has also helped me to confirm what I already suspected.

Certain of these personality traits and habits have also grown in through this blog and I suspect that my displeasure with blogging of late has much to do with my displeasure at stepping back and then seeing myself subconsciously behaving in certain repetitive ways. What this blog has done is to provide me with an instantly accessible and hyperlinked collective view of my thoughts and behaviours in a way that my memory alone cannot. A new way of seeing myself as others might see me that, in certain respects, offers me new level of self-awareness that leads me to be more self-critical as a result.

To explain, mlod isn't a classically personal blog in the sense that I don't blog about mundane personal issues every day, like where I've been or what I've had to eat, nor is it a blog heavy on links to memes, other people's mundane blog entries or what's on Daypop each day. I also don't blog news type posts unless they happen to be events so large that they transcend the definition of 'everyday news' and so stories like the Shuttle or War in Iraq make it on here, but not much else. Equally non-existent here are posts about my work - something that adds up to over 50% of my waking day and a big part of what defines my life on a daily basis. I recall making a conscious effort to strive for originality here rather than re-processing, for the want of a better word, content or material that originated elsewhere. But, ironically, in attempting to be original I've unearthed a strong aspect of my character and personality that results in repetitive creativity that is anything but original.

I regard myself as an innovator and more acutely as someone who has strong improvisational skills. I've developed an approach to tasks, and this applies professionally too, that disregards missing critical components in a plan, underfunding, lacking professional skills, abilities or know-how and purposely works around problems that would otherwise scupper most endeavours. I can take ideas and abilities of my own and bend them to suit other purposes. A minimal understanding of how something works is usually all I need to be confident enough to throw myself into the depths of a problem, task or project that most other people would never dream of undertaking so lightly. Flying by the seat of your pants as it is sometimes known.

Also, something deep my make-up seems to create a desire to have the odds stacked against me in order to really give myself fully to a problem or an issue. I'm a very competitive person but my hunger for success is fed more by my need to feel that I have achieved something that people expected me to fail at, or where my chances of success were, at best, under privileged. When I have something to push against that's when the fire in my belly burns at its hottest. Once I've achieved something, that's usually when I start to cruise and lose interest, the thrill having evaporated at the same time the challenge ceased to exist.

Recently I've begun to countenance the thought that my subconscious desire to come from behind or to fight with one arm tied behind my back, leads me subconsciously to make life difficult for myself by leaving preparation for critical moments or responsibilities to the last minute, just to spark the thrill-fueled interest I need to do my best. As if the best ideas can only come to the surface under extreme pressure where the chances of success are low and the results of failure are truly damaging but the recognition of achievement in those circumstances is supreme. See Extr eme Selling.

Where did this pattern of behaviour come from? Well, I'm inclined to be lazy, I procrastinate too much and I strongly suspect that there may be a link between my early working life where my inherent tendency to do things at the last minute and to rely on my quick thinking improvisational abilities to pull me through and the need to have things stacked against me in order to to get the best out of me and the best of my ideas to the surface.

Improvisation comes over strongly in the posts, spoofs and doctored images I create on this blog. It sometimes takes the form of parody, taking an already common concept, thought or idea and rendering it differently, or tweaking it to create something fresh or new. But, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it seems to be getting quite repetitive and I wonder if people might eventually switch off, thinking, "There goes Gary again, making another parody, twisting someone else's idea and passing it off as his own...yawn yawn..".

I also sometimes wonder if there is such a thing as original thought these days. In my under-educated mind, education should give us at least two things; the ability to know what has gone before - to learn from and about other people's significant thoughts and education should also give us the ability or desire to create original thought - to think for ourselves.

My improvisation is a large part of my make-up, looking through my archives has underlined that for me and that's why it features on my blog as often as it does, even if it has a job on its hands masquerading as original creativity. But, if I'm true to myself, I'll take these negative thoughts and perceptions about my boring predictability and use them to inspire the kind of effort and original creativity I require to overcome them. Some days I'll post about how I feel like giving it all up, I'll subconsciously try to give you the impression that all hope is lost, that I'm done for, just so that you expect me to fail and to quit blogging. Then right at the last minute, when all hope is gone, I'll pull a rabbit out of a hat and the cycle starts all over again. Either that, or I'll fall into an infinitely looping self-parody like a retired circus animal, that wouldn't be pretty.

After all, I will almost certainly have subconsciously created these problems and negative perceptions of myself with the specific purpose of overcoming them in the first place. Wrap your grey matter around that baby, baby.

Internet Politics Perception

Internet Politics Perception 01/16/2004 10:56 AM
So the report itself hasn't been released, but the World Internet Project presentation revealed an interesting conclusion about perceptions of politics and the Internet: There is a tendency across countries for more people to believe that the Internet can aid...

" Perception, motion, and color "

" Perception, motion, and color " 05/22/2004 09:54 AM

Using Captivate with Questionmark
Perception

Using Captivate with Questionmark
Perception 12/17/2004 06:35 PM
Import your interactive Captivate simulations into Perception and assess your users' content knowledge.

Perception: Serving Up Menus For ESPN

Perception: Serving Up Menus For ESPN 05/08/2004 03:47 AM
"When we first opened up, people told us we were crazy. But we did it with three Macs and three guys, and Final Cut." By Nancy Eaton, Apple (via MyAppleMenu)

Digital Cameras Change Perception of War
(AP)

Digital Cameras Change Perception of War
(AP) 05/07/2004 08:30 PM
AP - The explosive photos of abuse in an Iraqi prison drive home a defining fact of 21st century life — that the pervasiveness of digital photography and the speed of the Internet make it easier to see into dark corners previously out of reach for the mass media.

Alcohol hampers depth perception

Alcohol hampers depth perception 01/02/2005 11:26 PM
Drinking alcohol impairs driving ability by disrupting depth perception, researchers find.

Digital Cameras Change Perception of War

Digital Cameras Change Perception of War 05/07/2004 07:13 PM
AP via Daily Press May 7 2004 11:25PM GMT

NPR : Perception and Reality: The
Business of Media

NPR : Perception and Reality: The
Business of Media 04/15/2005 11:20 PM
Some Romy link named Folkenflik (trying saying that quickly a hundred times) is shocked -- SHOCKED!!!!! -- that media companies behave like MEDIA COMPANIES .. FEC on our asses: .. npr essay

npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4600783
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New 3G Report Highlights Market
Perception

New 3G Report Highlights Market
Perception 07/14/2004 06:57 AM
3G Jul 14 2004 9:44AM GMT

Digital Photos Change Iraq War
Perception

Digital Photos Change Iraq War
Perception 05/07/2004 03:42 AM
AP via Newsday May 7 2004 8:11AM GMT

New York Times people and their
perception of bl0gs...

New York Times people and their
perception of bl0gs... 01/06/2005 12:24 AM

Ernie the Attorney

Blogs are 'unsourced rantings' says former NY Times editor

From the 'Department of Supreme Irony' comes a statement by Howell Raines (the former Executive Editor of the New York Times) that blogging is 'unsourced ranting' (the link is to a News.com article that links to an Atlantic Monthly article that you have to subscribe to in order to view).

First of all, Raines' statement is so completely ludicrous as to be laughable. Weblogs have a lot of shortcomings, but lack of sourcing isn't one of them. In fact, if you want to criticize weblogs you would do better to complain about the excess of linking to other sources and the dearth of original material. But the more important point is the one filled with irony. Here is Howell Raines, who lost his job at the NYT because he was at the helm during the Jayson Blair scandal, complaining about problems with 'sourcing.' You remember the Jayson Blair scandal don't you? He was a young rising star reporter who was Raines' 'golden boy' at the Times. It turned that the way that he rose quickly was by not wasting time doing the usual investigative grunt work; instead he completely fabricated stories and sources.

Dvorak

“Blogging is the Same as Stamp Collecting for the Semi-Retired”

I still keep running into references to New York Times’ technology reporter John Markoff’s off-handed remarks that he does a blog, it’s called “Newyorktimes.com” In a recent conversation he told me that as far as he was concerned blogging is essentially the same as “stamp collecting” for the semi-retired.

We should have "funniest characterization of blogging by New York Times people" awards.

Comment - TrackBack

Digital Photos Change Iraq War
Perception (AP)

Digital Photos Change Iraq War
Perception (AP) 05/07/2004 03:19 AM
AP - The explosive photos of abuse in an Iraqi prison drive home a defining fact of 21st century life — that the pervasiveness of digital photography and the speed of the Internet make it easier to see into dark corners previously out of reach for the mass media.

ABCNEWS.com : Digital Photos Change Iraq
War Perception

ABCNEWS.com : Digital Photos Change Iraq
War Perception 05/09/2004 10:46 PM
Digital Photos Change Iraq War Perception

abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040507_116.html
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New Spray Impacts Perception - Takes
Six Years Off a Woman’s Age

New Spray Impacts Perception - Takes
Six Years Off a Woman’s Age 06/17/2005 04:02 PM

This sounds phony to me, but there may be something to it, so read on: Alan R. Hirsch, M.D., director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, created Timeless View based on more than 25 years of research on human sensory function. He recently presented a study on Timeless View to the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting in Atlanta, which illustrated how his patent-pending blend of scents (which includes pink grapefruit and others),…

Direct and Related Links for 'New Spray Impacts Perception - Takes Six Years Off a Woman’s Age'

In the subway

In the subway 01/07/2004 06:22 PM
Listening to NPR this morning as I struggled to regain enough of my consciousness to stumble into the shower, I heard Colson Whitehead read a...

The subway centennial

The subway centennial 05/04/2004 03:11 PM

You have until the end of the year to check out the New York Public Library's exhibit, The Subway at 100: General William Barclay Parsons and the Birth of the NYC Subway, but why wait?

Celebrating the centennial of the opening of the New York City subway system in 1904, this exhibition both salutes William Barclay Parsons, the first chief engineer of the subway, and recognizes the importance of the subway system to the life and growth of the city.

Sounds great, and since the subway is one of my favorite things about New York City, I'm keen to learn more about its construction and history. I'm adding this exhibit to my to-do list.

NYC ban on subway photos

NYC ban on subway photos 06/05/2004 05:54 AM
The NYC subway system is thinking of banning photos on the platforms and trains. Photos of the NYC subways have won awards and been given their own shows -- and more importantly, photo-documentation of neglect through the subway system were critical to the re-funding and revitalization of the service. So, basically, this is a stupid idea.

The argument is that somehow, photos of trains and platforms (not switching stations, conductor compartments, or control centres) will aid terrorists, and therefore that banning photos will make New Yorkers feel safer. So, basically, this is a stupid idea with an even stupider justification.

The Village Voice is holding a Forbidden Photos contest to shoot cool, arty pix of the NYC subway, and to kick it off, they've interviewed a bunch of photogs who shoot underground all the time about why they work on the subway:

I've found that most subway police officers think that photography is already illegal, and there's no way to convince them otherwise. So I've taken to carrying a copy of the law with me. The only people this [regulation] will affect is law-abiding citizens.

An enormous amount of great photography has come out of the subway. Look at Bruce Davidson, who powerfully documented the run-down transit system of the '70s and '80s and its weary riders. He probably wouldn't have been able to get a permit at the time (no one knows if the MTA will even issue permits this time around!). Would we be better off without his art?

Link (via Kottke)

NYC Subway Centennial

NYC Subway Centennial 12/09/2003 06:10 PM
New York's Subway turns 100 years old in 2004. All of us NYers have at least one subway story... what's yours? A few historical links here, here and here.

The Subway That Started It All

The Subway That Started It All 04/14/2004 01:04 PM
A pair of transit buffs go in search of the original 1904 subway system.

Like a subway map, for SNIPs

Like a subway map, for SNIPs 03/25/2005 08:37 AM
Pretty and pretty interesting: unrooted haplotype networks -- diagrams showing the relation and mutational distance between different sets of DNA, with haplotypes represented by circles proportional to haplotype frequency, joined by lines proportional to mutational difference between haplotypes -- in cichlid fish (on page 3 ) [pdf], in stone loach fish ( on page 3) [pdf], in lesser prairie chickens (on page 6) [pdf] and in a r ing species! (on page 2) [pdf]

NYC Subway Gets a Computerized Facelift
(AP)

NYC Subway Gets a Computerized Facelift
(AP) 04/10/2005 05:37 PM
AP - A subway train rattles halfway into Union Square station in Manhattan and shudders to a halt. Over a crackle of static, a voice on the PA system announces congestion ahead and says it will be several minutes before service resumes. Trapped commuters sigh and glance at their watches impatiently. Some simply close their eyes in resignation. This sort of thing — and much worse — has been happening quite a lot lately. So it's no surprise that transit snafu-weary New Yorkers are greeting with ambivalence this month's launch of fully computer-automated trains on a 22-mile line that intersects Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Berlin Inside the Subway 1.1 (KDE 3.2)

Berlin Inside the Subway 1.1 (KDE 3.2) 07/08/2004 02:04 PM
A desktop theme for a laptop with a WXGA display.

pictures from when the subway was scary

pictures from when the subway was scary 01/09/2004 09:58 PM
i like to give people the impression that mass transit in the city hasn't changed since the 80s

Now a Message From a Sponsor of the
Subway?

Now a Message From a Sponsor of the
Subway? 07/26/2004 09:37 PM
The New York region's subways, buses, railroads, bridges and tunnels are looking to corporate sponsorships and naming rights.

New York's subway getting computerized

New York's subway getting computerized 04/11/2005 03:50 AM
Houston Chronicle Apr 11 2005 8:06AM GMT

NYC Subway Gets Computer Facelift

NYC Subway Gets Computer Facelift 04/10/2005 09:52 PM
Wired News Apr 11 2005 1:42AM GMT

mobl0gging a subway argument

mobl0gging a subway argument 08/27/2004 02:15 PM
man, i'm glad i'm not *that* guy

NYC Subway Gets a Computerized Facelift

NYC Subway Gets a Computerized Facelift 04/10/2005 09:52 PM
ABCNEWS.com Apr 11 2005 1:56AM GMT

That graffiti in the subway might really
be a hyperlink

That graffiti in the subway might really
be a hyperlink 03/25/2005 04:01 PM
Also: 'Phantom torque' on space station. [News.com Extra]

NYC subway upgrade on track

NYC subway upgrade on track 04/10/2005 02:15 PM
USA Today Apr 10 2005 6:14PM GMT

"of the London subway system"

"of the London subway system" 11/16/2003 05:08 PM

Jini and the Tokyo Subway

Jini and the Tokyo Subway 03/31/2005 03:25 AM
Just now, the big story in Jini-land is the Starter Kit release. I’ve been spending quite a bit of time here the last few days, trying to figure out whether it’s the future or not; either way, it’s important...

Cincinnati's Secret Subway

Cincinnati's Secret Subway 06/28/2004 11:35 AM
I just spent the weekend in my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1925, construction in Cincinnati began on a state-of-the-art subway system for the rapidly expanding city. Three years later, money ran out and the seven miles of completed subway were abandoned. Since then, the cavernous rooms have become part of the city's secret history, with interest peaking every so often when a new plan for the tunnels is proposed: a fall-out shelter, a wind tunnel for the university's engineering students, a venue for a music festival. Back in high school, several of my friends accessed the tunnels for a few exciting evenings of urban spelunking. Now though, legit tours are occasionally offered. According to this recent piece on NPR's All Things Considered, the waiting list is 2,000 people long. Link

more details on the 2nd avenue subway

more details on the 2nd avenue subway 04/27/2004 01:06 PM
i can't wait to hop on board in a scant 7 years or so

Cancer causes visualised as a subway
map

Cancer causes visualised as a subway
map 07/10/2004 06:12 AM
This is a really cool visualisation of the causes of cancer from Nature magazine, in which a faux subway map is dotted with cell types required for malignancy that are joined by the molecular pathways that generate these behaviours. Link

It's All Mets in Subway Series Opener

It's All Mets in Subway Series Opener 06/26/2004 05:52 PM
Al Leiter escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and the Mets beat up rookie Brad Halsey in a six-run fourth that propelled them past the Yankees.
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Subway Perception

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