Seeing new traffic lights around the city. They dispense with the red-yellow-green distinctions. Instead it's shapes that light up. One of them (go?) is a minus sign or dash. Another is a triangle. The weird thing is that they're in at least experimental use in Providence, a decently-sized city. Probably they're being tested out somewhere else too. But on this big wide internet I can't find any reference to these lights. I mean, this describes something a little like them, except that while shapes are being used to distinguish the lights for colorblind drivers, the lights are still colored, while these are strictly white LEDs, with more articulated shapes. I'm kind of impressed at the information blackout.
All this has nothing to do with the video of Elvis Costello singing Abba, but I just discovered it and felt like sharing.
All this has nothing to do with the video of Elvis Costello singing Abba, but I just discovered it and felt like sharing.
2 comments:
From what I've read about traffic fatalities and injuries it seems there are two main factors, neither of which has much to do with stoplights. The first is that many people have been purchasing SUVs because they make them feel safer - the downside is that they become more complacent and the vehicles themselves are likely to kill pedestrians by inflicting greater upper body and head injuries. The other reason is that there are far more distractions available to drivers today than there used to be. Traffic lights won't solve either of those problems.
It was good to hear Elvis doing that famous Abba song - he was just the guy to do it justice. Too bad about the acoustics at the place where he was playing.
There's a good kind of feeling safe and a bad kind. The bad kind is when you start acting stupidly. The spread of SUV's often leads to the bad kind, and sadly innocent people frequently get hurt or worse. And yes, there are a lot more distractions than there used to be. Mobile phones and all the services available through them are one. Also when people go to drive-throughs they tend to do their eating and drinking on the road. People, get out of the car, get a table, and relax.
I'd heard before that he was a fan of Abba. There are similarities between "Dancing Queen" and "Oliver's Army" that I wouldn't have caught on my own but make sense when pointed out. Maybe the club is better for listening than recording.
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