The World

Famous Photographs

I stumbled upon a site called World’s Famous Photos, which starts out just enthralling and slowly becomes agonizingly depressing.

You might first get drawn to some particularly iconic historical photographs, like Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima or “Tank Man” in Tiananmen Square.  You might peek in on the lighter fare like the cover of Abbey Road or V-J Day in Times Square.

But in the end you won’t be able to avoid the September 11 attacks, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the wars, famines, fires, protests, and genocides that a century of photography has recorded and that now sit arrayed before you on your computer screen just waiting to be absorbed.

Traffic

I’m reading an absolutely fascinating book called Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt, analyzing what makes traffic happen, and what’s happening in our brains when we try to drive.

You may be wondering how it is that humans can even do things like drive cars or fly planes, moving at speeds well beyond that ever experienced in our evolutionary history.  … The short answer is that we cheat.  We make the driving environment as simple as possible, with smooth, wide roads marked by enormous signs and white lines that are purposely placed far apart to trick us into thinking we are not moving as fast as we are.  It is a toddler’s view of the world, a landscape of outsized, brightly colored objects and flashing lights, with harnesses and safety barriers that protect us as we exceed our own underdeveloped capabilities.

It’s got bits of civil engineering, bits of psychology, and reams of experimental evidence that all make me wish I were back on a highway just to see it all in action.

I guess I’ll just settle for reading a book about mass transit while sitting comfortably on the train in the morning.

Optional

Congratulations, Vermont, in legalizing same-sex marriages, in spite of a senseless veto from Governor Jim Douglas.  During the campaign to legalize “civil unions” back in 2000, those opposed to the new law ran the “Take Back Vermont” campaign, which inspired those in favor to proclaim, “Take Vermont Forward.”  Forward indeed!  Vermont has become the first state to legalize same-sex marriage through an act of legislation, instead of a judicial mandate.

A colleague joked at lunch today:

I was totally against it [same-sex marriage] until I heard it was optional.

But seriously, folks.  The Boston Globe ran an Associated Press story on the matter today, quoting Governor Douglas on why he vetoed the bill:

“What really disappoints me is that we have spent some time on an issue during which another thousand Vermonters have lost their jobs,” the governor said Tuesday. “We need to turn out attention to balancing a budget without raising taxes, growing the economy, putting more people to work.”

First, wouldn’t the legislature have resumed its economy-related activities faster if you hadn’t made them first override your useless veto (by 23 votes to 5)?

More importantly, the United States spends billions of dollars on weddings every year, averaging $20,000 for a single ceremony and upwards of $80 billion nationwide.  That money goes into wildly diverse markets and often to local businesses.  Services (florists, caterers, musicians, photographers), jewelers (for rings), real estate owners (for both the ceremony and reception spaces), other property renters (for furniture, tents, dishes), printers (for announcements, invitations, place cards, et cetera), and even the travel industry (for both honeymoon travel and for out-of-town family attending the ceremony) — not to mention the wedding industry’s own internal services like gown designers and formalwear renters — get enormous payouts every time two people get married.

Maybe some governors would rather Massachusetts get all that economy-boosting glory, eh?

This Post Brought to You Faster by FedEx

FedEx just earned huge points for their commercial on Hulu.  We see what appears to be a FedEx commercial playing, but it’s clearly on fast forward, complete with the wavy lines and faint squealing reminiscent of VCR tapes.  The narrator says:

Instead of our commercial, go ahead and watch your video now.  We understand.  Your time is valuable.

The line reads:

This content brought to you faster by FedEx.

The ad runs for a short ten seconds.  Whether it’s really shorter than usual ads or just feels shorter, FedEx succeeds entirely.

After an unfortunate experience with a particular FedEx agent around Christmas that drove me to their competitors, I will now absolutely be doing my shipping with them, if only to reward them for the brilliant marketing.

Incidentally, it doesn’t appear possible to deliberately watch a commercial over again on Hulu.  Perhaps they didn’t think anyone would ever want to.

The Boston Water Party?

A blurb on page B4 of this morning’s Boston Globe reads:

Members of Think Outside the Bottle took their message to the waterfront yesterday…. Hayley Ryan and Colleen Arnold dumped bottled water into Boston Harbor … to protest the large-scale consumption of bottled water.

Of all the Boston Tea Party reenactments (and there are many), I imagine this one has the interesting distinction of actually making the harbor marginally cleaner.

Google’s Finally Invented Something that Works

Google Maps has finally introduced the one feature it’s needed most since the site first came into being: it shows all the places that match your search at once, instead of just ten at a time.

Suppose you search for Dunkin Donuts in Boston, MA.  They’re everywhere, of course.  You still get only ten pin icons, labeled A through J, but now tiny circles dot the entire map to identify every location in the city.  Clicking any dot will produce the same “speech bubble” full of details you’d expect from any other map icon.

Apparently Google put this in over a month ago, but I haven’t noticed it until now.

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

William H. Whyte did extensive research in 1980 on what makes city plazas popular or unpopular.  He published a book called The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces detailing his team’s findings, which are, generally, fascinating.

There’s a companion video, which is surprisingly difficult to find.  Direct Cinema Limited sells a DVD for $95 licensed for public performances, but no ordinary (and cheap) “home use” copy seems to be available online.

Fortunately, through the magic of YouTube, you can watch the first 10 minutes, which will make you want to immediately pay the $95 for your own copy.  My favorite remark in that introduction:

The number one activity is people looking at other people.

Here are the “girl watchers.”  They’re a bit disdainful, looking down their noses as though the girls aren’t worth their talents.  But it’s all machismo.  We have never ever seen a girl watcher make a pass at a girl.  We’ve seen very few others do that for that matter.

But of course!  They’re girl watchers.  Actually talking to a girl would inhibit their ability to watch them!

(via Kottke)

I Believe That Children Are Our Future

Milton J. Valenca and Jenna Nierstedt write in this morning’s Boston Globe:

Nearly half to the 200 Boston teenagers interviewed for an informal poll said pop star Rihanna was responsible for the beating she allegedly took at the hands of her boyfriend, fellow music star Chris Brown, in February.

Of those questioned, ages 12 to 19, 71 percent said that arguing was a normal part of a relationship; 44 percent said fighting was a routine occurrence.