The Chalkboard Car

This is a photo of a chalkboard car. 

And on the hood is written "Happy Memorial Day!"

On the side was a design in chalk and on the back even a peace sign. 

Wouldn't it be sort of funny if everyone had a car with handwritten messages on it (as long as they were kept clean and non-aggressive). 

A little entertainment, humor, how ya feeling today, and more. 

It's also nice when we don't take ourselves so seriously and can just have some kosher fun in life. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Chalkboard Car

Someone I Know And Didn't Know

So this is a true story...

I am on the crowded metro coming home from the office, sitting facing backward and toward the middle of the car. 

There is some noise and rustling coming up from behind me, and I see people's heads turning and startled looks on their faces. 

I turn around to see what is going on...

Someone in a wheelchair is screaming to get off the train. 

However, he is caught about halfway in between the closing metro doors, and can't get back in or out and off the train. 

There is one guy who was apparently standing by the doors, and he is trying to get the door open, but can't budge it.

Everyone else on this busy train seems just frozen, almost as if time had stopped (really). 

But the double train doors are wedged into the larger and smaller wheels (for hand turning) on the side of the wheelchair. 

The person in the chair is still calling out for help and to be released from the clasp of these heavy doors around him--in his seated position, his lower torso from his thighs down are positioned outside the train, but his upper body is still on the train. 

The conductor is trying to move the train again and again...and it's not apparent whether the failsafe mechanism for the open door will work as the train is lurching forward and the doors are sort of vibrating in this quick open/close fashion. 

Then, I see someone spontaneously jump out of their seat.

They are racing to the wheelchair jammed in the doors.

I see them first try and push open on the left side...but it's still not budging.

Then, they try and pull the other, right side, open towards them...but it's to no avail as the forceful doors are wedged in on around the chair. 

With everything around them a blur of seats and faces, the person turns their head looking around for another way...

They see like a target standing out in the distance, an emergency intercom on the front wall of the train.

The person lunges toward it and hits the round button.

The conductor who is still fidgeting with the doors to get them closed and trying to move the train ever forward comes hastily on the speaker, but apparently not connecting the call to him with what's going on with the doors and wheelchair says "Yeah, what's the emergency?"

The person catching himself, musters the words to say into the comm device, "There is a wheelchair stuck in the train doors-- OPEN THE DOORS!"

The conductor immediately reacts and the doors pull apart from both sides, and the wheelchair almost falls forward, the disabled person sort of thrown from the train, but finally on the platform, and wheeling themselves as quickly as they can towards the elevator to get away from this whole situation. 

With nothing left to do, the person who helped, let's out a deep breath and is visibly shaken, but also glad to see the person in the wheelchair safe and on their way. 

As he is walking back to his seat, he realizes there are a lot of eyes on him that were just a blur before. 

At the same time, over the speaker system comes the relieved voice of the conductor with a simple "Thank you."

I see the person sit down, calling his wife to tell her what happened, he starts to silently cry. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Someone I Know And Didn't Know

Electric Cars, Forget About It

With all the talk about electric cars, I think what we've forgotten is that they are still just cars and oh-so 20th century. 

What I mean is that they are not transformative. 

You're still in a car, traveling around 15-60(+) miles per hour, stopping at stop lights/signs, yielding to other cars and pedestrians, driving over potholes, getting stuck in traffic, and having to fill up on "juice" every few hundred miles. 

And with the cost of oil way done (about half from last year), there may be a positive environmental impact, and that's important, but that's about it for this invention. 

So if you can get over the range anxiety and fear of running out of electric power and not finding a convenient place to plug into, and you don't mind waiting an hour or so for the fill up, well then you can drive on batteries--and all the power to you. 

But like the toy cars and trucks that I played with as a child, they too often ran on batteries, and I'd zoom them around on the kitchen and dining room floor with lights and sirens flashings--now that was exciting. 

And yes, a driverless car (like from Google) is a little more of a step forward in terms of really changing how we travel...but then again, maybe it's like sitting on a bus, metro, cruise ship, or airplane today--read the paper, snooze, listen to music, or watch a video, but you don't have to do anything to move the vehicle or navigate the terrain. 

In a way, cars are pretty much just fancy horses with wheels--whether powered by hay, gas, or electric--they are terrestrial and sort of boring on the ride--even with the windows down and music playing. 

In my opinion, it is high time for some travel without the crunched seats, traffic jams, no turn lanes, traffic cameras, expensive tickets, looking for parking spaces, potholes, flat tires, and all the other nuisances of daily car commuting. 

What I like about the picture in this blog though is that it makes me think of a much greater leap when it comes to transportation--whether by transporter, jet pack, pneumatic tubes, or time/space machine--we can get there effortlessly and lippity-snappity quick.

And the car, it can stay in the garage--or find its place in the Museum of History--for all I care. ;-)

(Source Photo: Rebecca Blumenthal)

Electric Cars, Forget About It

Metro Wide Open

I took this photo in the Washington, D.C. Metro today. 

What do you think it is?

Lots of electronics, wires, lights--and in front of it and holding the door open is a "caution" pylon. 

This is one of the faregates to get into the metro system for the Capital region. 

Now how "smart" is it to leave the door wide open to this contraption. 

Usually the basics of physical security is gates, guards, and guns--in this case, the gates part is broken. 

The Department of Homeland Security was provided another week of funding to work out the immigration mess pitting Congress against the President...

But even with DHS still up and running, security is looking a little too wide open again. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Metro Wide Open

Learning To Compromise

My wife and I decided after living in the same condo for the last 15 years that maybe it was time for a change. 

There is a great area that we hang out in with workout, grocery, pharmacy, public transportation, and--most importantly to my wife--Starbucks--all right there.

So my wife made an appointment for us to look at this rental right above all the action....

The apartment was nice, modern, and best of all in this vibrant neighborhood--but on the smallish side (we would definitely be cramped) and with a substantial monthly. 

My wife, the perennial city dweller, loved it, and I didn't.

Next, my turn up, we went with a real estate broker to see a charm of a house--this was the one we'd "been waiting for," all these years. 

Solid, roomy, castle-like...but it would have some ongoing house maintenance things and was a little distance from public transportation (i.e. we'd mostly have to drive). 

This time, my wife hated it, and I loved it.

Back and forth--argue and debate--getting no where (this is a very egalitarian relationship--my wife tells me what to do!) :-)

Thinking about this, I say "Okay, let's compromise"--let's look for a more upscale and roomy condo that we can make our own but in the neighborhood she really likes (and yeah, I like it too). 

1-2-3, with a little searching, we find something online we like, and back to the real estate broker to make an appointment. 

This story is not over in terms of where (or if) we are going to move to, but along the way we continue to learn as a couple to get along, love each other, and of course, compromise. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Learning To Compromise

Closed And Closed

This is sort of hilarious.

Check out the signs on either side of the road.

- Right lane closed.

- Left lane closed.

Even more stupid, notice that the signs are reversed (the left closure sign is on the right side of the road and the right closure sign is on the left side of the road)...oops.

Thank G-d, there were three lanes--at least for a little while. ;-)

(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)

Closed And Closed

Our Lovely Metro System

Ok, so grossed out the last few days on the Washington, D.C. Metro system. 

This (see above) is what I was sitting next to this morning on the train. 

And last night was even worse, I was about to sit on one of the seats, and this nice man stopped me. 

Someone had actually spit on the seat--and just left it there for another unknowing person to sit in. 

Thankfully, I was saved this indignity, and ended up sitting somewhere else.

But later on the train, I saw someone jump up and start cursing--apparently, he had sat right in it. 

I saw another guy offer him a handkerchief, which was quite a nice gesture, considering. 

At the same time, I saw a lady on the train wearing one of those surgical masks that cover your mouth and nose--maybe not the worst idea under these ill conditions. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Our Lovely Metro System

Futuristic Highway

Some really great ideas here for the highway of the future.

These are the inspiration of interactive artist Daan Roosegaarde.

To save energy and increase safety, there are four concepts presented:

- Glow in the dark road markings (i.e. lane dividers) with photo-luminescent paint that charges during the day and lights up at night.

- Weather symbols on the road with temperature-responsive paint, so for example, when the temperature falls below a certain level, the roads show snowflake symbols to indicate that they may be icy. 

- Motion-interactive lights on the highway that light up when cars approach and are powered by the draft of the moving cars. 

- Induction lanes that can charge car batteries as they run along them and reenergize the cars for further travel. 

Already, there is a 500 meter stretch of road in Oss, Netherlands with the glow-in-the-dark road markings--these are almost radioactive green in color and give a futuristic Tron look to the roads.

Now the question is when can we get these high-tech upgrades for I-495? 

What an awesome high-tech display befitting our nation's capital and maybe it would help with traffic as well!  ;-)

Futuristic Highway

How Do You Kill A Pothole?

With a pothole killer, of course. 

This is a funny truck roaming around Washington, D.C. 

Even the phone number tells the story...dial 1-877-Fix Road. 

All American too - red, white, and blue with the stars and stripes.

Bang, Bang. Pothole Dead. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

How Do You Kill A Pothole?

I Quit, And Here's My Clothes

This was a funny picture on the Metro in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. 

Apparently some people threw off their Costco jackets (I think with name tags and all).

One jacket was on the train floor next to the heating vents and the other lying on the seat next to the window, 

They were not neatly folded, but sort of angrily shoved there. 

As people got on the train looking for a seat, over and over their eyes did a widening and they paused, some said, "What's that? Did someone leave their clothes on the train?"

Two teenage girls and a boy started laughing and pointing.

No one would actually go near these--maybe they were afraid of germs or to get involved in whatever happened here. 

Well Costco, if you're looking for some of your long white jackets with emblem (one from your tire center), you may want to contact the lost and found in WMATA.

As for the employees, I don't think they are coming back. ;-) 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

I Quit, And Here's My Clothes

Combat Tires 4 Commerical Use

I love these combat-level tires on the Polaris Sportsman All Terrain Vehicle (ATV).

These tires are non-pneumatic, never go flat, and are nearly indestructible. 

They were developed for the military to absorb combat damage, navigate difficult terrains, and take lots of impact. 

No spare needed!

Can I have these James Bond tires on my family car? ;-)

Combat Tires 4 Commerical Use

Amazon Delivery - By Crunk-Car, If You Like

Jeff Bezos of Amazon is one very smart guy and when he announces that he is interested in drones delivering your next online order that makes for a lot of grandstanding. 

But really how is a dumb drone delivering an order of diapers or a book so exciting. 

Aside from putting a lot of delivery people at USPS, UPS, and FedEx out of work, what does the consumer get out of it? 

Honestly, I don't care if if the delivery comes by Zike-Bike, Crunk-Car, Zumble-Zay, Bumble-Boat, or a Gazoom, as Dr. Seuss would say--I just care that it gets here fast, safely, and cheaply. 

Will a drone be able to accomplish those things, likely--so great, send the drone over with my next order, but this doesn't represent the next big technological leap. 

It doesn't give us what the real world of robotics in the future is offering: artificial intelligence, natural language processing, augmentation of humans, or substitution by robots altogether, to do things stronger, faster, and more precisely, and even perhaps companionship to people. 

Turning surveillance and attack drones into delivery agents is perhaps a nice gesture to make a weapon into an everyday service provider. 

And maybe the Octocopters even help get products to customers within that holy grail, one day timeframe, that all the retailers are scampering for.

It's certainly a great marketing tool--because it's got our attention and we're talking about it.

But I'll take a humanoid robot sporting a metallic smile that can actually interact with people, solve problems, and perform a multitude of useful everyday functions--whether a caregiver, a bodyguard, or even a virtual friend (e.g. Data from Star Trek)--over a moving thingamajig that Dr. Seuss foresaw for Marvin K. Mooney. ;-)

Amazon Delivery - By Crunk-Car, If You Like

Hyperloop Takes Us Supersonic

Elon Musk in a genius -- from SpaceX to Tesla to Paypal -- he has us inventing like almost no one else can.

Now his concept of the Hyperloop is once again breaking all preconceptions of travel on Earth. 

Forget planes, trains, automobiles, and boats--Musk's promised open source plans would take us from New York to Los Angeles in under 45 minutes!

The system would be built based on the following premises:

- Safer in that it never crashes and is immune to weather

- Faster than any Earth transportation available today

- Cheaper than air travel 

- Better using self-powered solar panels and energy storage

In business school, we were taught to think in terms of better, faster, cheaper--what's amazing about Musk is he has a track record of not just thinking it, but making it so. 

While the Hyperloop doesn't exist today, I find it awfully exciting to think that one day, it will. 

On the plus side, Elon Musk makes George Jetson our reality; on the minus side, now we have no reason not to visit the in-laws. ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to booknews)

Hyperloop Takes Us Supersonic

Really Smart Cities

This is unbelievable design work by Jacque Fresco--architect, futurist and only 96-years old!

As you watch this video, you just have to ask yourself, why didn't we think of that sooner?

His design for the city of the future just seems so intuitive--and in aggregate looks almost like the Internet with a mesh design of interlocking cities working together harmoniously. 

Great concepts:

- Circular cities--with a city center or central hub of essential services (medical, fire, police, etc.) and shopping, and radiating bands of living quarters, agriculture, and recreation. 

- Build from the ground up--rather than build piecemeal, you build the entire architected city from the ground up--first underground infrastructure then building foundations, structures, and all modular, interlocking, interchangeable, and constantly maintained.

- Transportation Conveyers--transport up, down, and around by speedy conveyers or between city hubs by underground maglev trains. 

- Recycle Everything--this is an environment where nothing is wasted and everything gets recycled. 

- Energy Sustainability--all buildings have photovoltaic or solar cells for generating their own renewable energy resources. 

- Clean Water/Air--vital resources like water and air is piped in, cleaned, and constantly monitored for safety. 

Wow, this is a day and night difference from any city that I have ever seen--wouldn't this be the type of place you'd like to raise your family in the future.

Maybe there are times when starting over with a fresh architecture perspective versus just tinkering with the old is necessary to make a bold leap forward--do you think this one of them? ;-)

Really Smart Cities

Still An Innovation Nation

Yesterday, according to the Mayan calendar, we were to have seen the end of the world. Today professors like Robert J. Gordon in The Wall Street Journal (22-23 December 2012) unfortunately continue to spread doom and gloom. 

According to Gordon, "for more than a century, the U.S. economy grew robustly thanks to big inventions; those days are gone."

Gordon seems to think predominantly from 20/20 hindsight, seeing the innovations of the past -- such as the electric light bulb, running water and the jet airplane -- as the last major vestiges possible of human advancement. 

As Gordon states: "Only once would transport speeds be increased from the horse (6 miles per hour) to the Boeing 707 (550 mph).  Only once could our houses be replaced by running water and indoor plumbing. Only once could indoor temperatures, thanks to central heating and air conditioning, be converted from cold in winter and hot in summer to a uniform year-round climate of 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit."

Gordon’s pessimism is bad enough (“The future of American economic growth is dismal”) but his arrogance is even worse.

How sad that he cannot see past our momentary troubles and imagine better, greater things to come.

- Is 707 miles per hour really the fastest that humans can travel? I guess Gordon hasn't been following the land speed record in Scientific American (5 November 2012) that has an English project pushing the 1,000 mph barrier and already projecting hitting 1,600 mph or Virgin Galactic (just the beginning of our space journeys) reaching more than 4 times the speed of sound (>3,000 mph!).

- Is indoor plumbing really the last great innovation when it comes to water? Please don't tell that to almost a billion people worldwide who live without potable water. However, thanks to innovators such as Vestergaard-Frandsen, whose Lifestraw water purification tools "removes 99.9999% of bacteria through a superfine filtration process" for only about $6 each (Mashable), many others may soon have access to safe drinking water.

- Is central air is the end of the temperature innovation cycle?--You've got to be kidding me. In the context of global warming and the resulting "storms and other (weather) extremes," there are considerable challenges ahead of us to be met. Someone ought to tell Mr. Gordon that sustainable energies are coming online (solar, wind, wave, and geothermal) that can help stem global greenhouse gases thought to be a major cause. In fact, whole new "green" high-tech cities like Masdar City are being developed to operate with low environmental footprints. 

Gordon may think all major innovations have arrived, and probably thought the same before the Internet and smartphone were created. 

In his op-ed, Gordon calls on skeptics to “rebut” his innovative idea that robust innovation is over. But perhaps he is actually asking them for help. Because such pessimism and small thinking are a prison of his own making. Unfortunately, he is professionally considered an “educator.” But it’s lessons like this that our young people – facing one of the most economically challenging times in modern history - can do without. ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Paul Townsend)

Still An Innovation Nation

Escaping From A Submerged Vehicle Gets Easier

Of all things, here's an innovation to the seat belt. 

In the movies, we've all seen cars plunging into the water and submerging with people trapped inside. 

Wired Magazine (11 December 2012) reported on a new escape belt that helps people get out of the vehicles and to safety. 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administation, almost 400 people die a year from car accidents that result in accidental drowning. 

Now Dutch company, Fijen TMLS has developed a seat-belt that releases when water goes in the interior and dissolves a salt pill in the latch. 

The mechanism costs as little as $40 and according to the company's website can "be assembled on all seatbelt releasers in just a few simple steps."

From the pictures of the assembly instructions, I am not sure it is quite so easy. 

Also, it is unclear how long the device is good for, since on one hand, their website states that the "Escape Belt lasts 6 months" and on other hand that "the cartridge will need to replaced after 2 years."

In any case, I think the idea is a good one as long as the belt remains secure when not submerged and will not release accidentally with any simple spill or splash. ;-)

Escaping From A Submerged Vehicle Gets Easier

Getting Around Town--Washington D.C.

Well, here is to some old and new ways of getting around town in Washington D.C. 

You sort of have to (safely) weave in and out between these to get to your meetings and events or hop on one to get there, perhaps, more quickly and enjoyably. 

Anyway, as you can tell, D.C., like many a big city (ah, reminds me of the Big Apple) has many a colorful characters in the downtown. 

It adds to the charm--sometimes--and can make for a nuisance at others. 

But, it's never quite boring. 

Hope this gives a good flavor of what's like to work, and play, in The Capital. ;-)

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

Getting Around Town--Washington D.C.

Military-Style ATV For Pleasure Or Kicking Butt

This is a very cool all-terrain vehicle (ATV) modeled after the Segway, that is built with military or extreme sports in mind.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the DTV Shredder runs on tank treads, has a motocycle throttle, and the mobility of a skateboard.

The Shredder is made by BPG Werks and can go up to 30 miles per hour, has a three-foot turning radius, can haul up to 800 pounds over rocky terrain, and costs only $4,000.

This is a cost-effective, energy-efficient, rugged transportation mule can carry people, equipment, or supplies through friendly or hostile terrain, and it can even be used through a remote controller. 

A precursor transit device from this company was the Uno--a very cool looking, self-balancing, all-electric unicycle--that won Intel's International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in 2007, was on the cover of Popular Science Magazine (2008), and secured $1.25 million from angel investors. 

When we talk about mobile technology, everyone first thinks of smartphones and tablet computers, but new and improved modes of personal transportation can also be innovative and high-tech with applications for everything from snowmobiling to beach patrol and hunting to overseas deployments. 

End of the world scenarios come to mind too--with a mobile device like this...outmaneuver, outwit, outlast.  

Of course, having to stand for the whole ride can be a bummer, and an open ATV certainly does not imply all-weather, so practicality limits its usefulness, but this is still my cool gadget of the week for fighting or for fun. ;-)

Military-Style ATV For Pleasure Or Kicking Butt

"Plastered" On The Metro

The Washington D.C. area Metro has been so bad this week...

Fires, delays, overcrowding, doors not closing, people screaming, trains being unloaded and taken out of service. 

Today, the trains were so packed, this one guy (pictured) was literally "plastered" up against the glass, practically holding on for dear life. 

Forget about any air conditioning, with the heat in the city reaching 96 degrees today, one train that I was on actually seemed to have the heat going. 

The people were drenched in sweat, fanning themselves, trying to gulp in some air at the station stops, and generally praying the train didn't get stuck in the tunnel to top it all off. 

It is almost unbelievable that this the public transportation in The Capital of the United States of America!

Luckily, I met a friend on the train and at least had some good conversation and laughs to make the otherwise dismal ride go by faster. 

This must be the week for crappy transportation for me--what did I do wrong?  ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

"Plastered" On The Metro

Raising The Bar On Cybersecurity

Good video by the The Washington Post (2 June 2012) on the importance and challenges of cybersecurity. 

There are 12 billion devices on the Internet today and this is projected to soar to 50 billion in the next decade.

Cybersecurity is paramount to protecting the vast amounts of critical infrastructure connected to the Internet.

There is a lot riding over the Internet--power, transportation, finance, commerce, defense, and more--and the vulnerabilities inherent in this is huge!

Some notable quotes from the video:

- "Spying, intrusions, and attacks on government and corporate networks occur every hour of every day."

- "Some sort of cyberwar is generally considered an inevitability."

- "Cyberwar although a scary terms--I think it is as scary as it sounds."

- "Right now the bar is so low, it doesn't take a government, it doesn't take organized crime to exploit this stuff--that's what's dangerous!"

We all have to do our part to raise the bar on cybersecurity--and let's do it--now, now, now.

Raising The Bar On Cybersecurity