Muni Game Show: Two Guys, One Rapper
Here’s a fun game that Jenn suggested on Twitter: “One of these two is listening (very loudly) to Eminem. Guess which one it is.”
Go!
Missed Connection: You Finished My Sentences at MacArthur BART
Photo by Ken-ichi Ueda
Alia of On Transit had a missed connection at the MacArthur BART station, involving Proust, neuroscience, and what could have been. Help a fellow rider out. Did you read over Alia’s shoulders the other day and finish her sentences? Are you the one?
I look up from Proust Was A Neuroscientist, wishing not for the first time that I could answer, “English” or “Neuroscience” or “Just so you know, I could read real science books if I wan-ted.”
Instead: “Oh … I’m not a student.”
“I just saw the UC Berkeley stamp. I’m sorry, I was reading over your shoulder—I know I shouldn’t do that, but it looked really interesting—”
“Believe me,” I interrupt, “I’m the last person you should apologize to for that. And it is pretty interesting, it’s —”
Now he interrupts me. “The part about how we need change to learn, that’s—”
“I know! The book is about how literature and science—
“Yes, I saw a thing once about technology that—
“Right, but this is more like—”
Read the rest of Alia’s missed connection and her transit stories.
Update: Return of a Favorite Muni Driver
One of our favorite Muni drivers has returned to the wheel, rider Jonathan reports. We first met Tammy in 2010 when she threw an amazing surprise party on the 33-Stanyan.
Last year Tammy was suddenly absent from our commute, and she emailed to tell us about a tragedy that had happened to her family: the death of Tammy’s son in a car accident. The outpouring of your kind comments was amazing. (see Tammy’s story)
Jonathan wrote us with an update:
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Thanks, Jonathan, for the update on Tammy, who brings a smile to so many of her passengers!
My Name Is Super Muni Man
Photo by @jprrrrrrrrr
Photo by @jprrrrrrrrr
I don’t know where Super Muni Man is going, but if I am ever stuck in a Muni tunnel, I hope he’s in it with me.
Muni Shelter Peep Show
Photo by GLadysSF
Spotted on Fremont and Mission streets. What happens when you press the button on the screen? Scared to imagine…
Lesson from BART? F.C.C. Asks for Guidance on Whether, and When, to Cut Off Cellphone Service
Photo by Steve Rhodes
Remember when BART decided to cut down cell service? The F.C.C. hasn’t forgotten either. In fact, the agency is reviewing whether or when the police or other government officials can interrupt cellphone and internet service to protect public safety, according to The New York Times. The Times cited the cellphone shutdown on BART last summer in the story.
Late Thursday, the commission requested public comment on the issue, which came to widespread attention last August, when Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco shut off cellphone service for three hours in some stations to hinder planned protests there.
The F.C.C. chairman has some strong words. From the same New York Times report:
Julius Genachowski, the F.C.C. chairman, said in a statement that such a shutdown “raises serious legal and policy issues, and must meet a very high bar.”
“Our democracy, our society and our safety all require communications networks that are available and open,” he said. “The F.C.C., as the agency with oversight of our communications networks, is committed to preserving their availability and openness, and to harnessing communications technologies to protect the public.”
The F.C.C. is now seeking public comment on the issue. Among the questions for public comment is whether the F.C.C. even has authority over such shutdowns and whether it can pre-empt local, state, or federal laws that prohibit shutdowns like the one on BART.
Hat tip: reader Brady F.