Thursday, July 18, 2013

Who's responsible if a train hits me

With the news of a fatal Amtrak/jogger incident in British Columbia, Canada, http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Woman+killed+when+jogged+front+Amtrak+train+White+Rock/8661245/story.html

And similar accidents:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3018516/posts

There is evidence such accidents are increasing:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/16/news/la-heb-headphones-accident-pedestrian-20120116

Please consider the general issue of who is at fault when freakish accidents like these happens. Heads up, I am generally very favourable to what critics derrogate as the nanny state. Reality is:
- of younger people, people under 45, 98% wear earbuds, including some who can afford it, with noise cancelling technology, when they jog or run
- Apple and other device and earphone companies  are totally aware of the risks and make billions of dollars on Ipods, IPhones and similar devices, earbuds, and noise-cancelling earphones.
- there are solutions and people making money marketing affordable solutions e.g. http://www.safesoundsports.com/product.html but 98% of young joggers do not use safe solutions.

I blame the device and earbud/headset tech companies 75%. The proof is the lengthy warnings they enclose with their products. The main impact of these warnings is cover their asses in case of a lawsuit. They need to add a technological solution to ALL such device/earbud/headset combinations, idiot proof, if you will, such as noise ENHANCING technology, which recognize a train whistle, bus or truck horn, siren, other warning sound or yell, any loud noise that is not just general background and stop the music so the wearer can at least hear the train, truck, yells etc.

Of course we are all ALSO responsible for ourselves. After initial attempts listening to music while I run, I gave up on it. Generationally, I am not an exercise multi-tasker, and also I am lucky enough to have moved to a place where my run is Vancouver's legendary seawall and Stanley park. I do not feel the need of anything to block out the cries of ravens and seagulls and the lap of waves on the beaches. But even a few months ago, when I lived in a trafficky neighbourhood in Phoenix, Arizona, I just did not listen to music. I had enough close encounters with traffic without adding to the probability. But I do not understand how the need for personal responsibility eliminates the need for overall social or corporate responsibility. You need both.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Infectious magic

Just moved to Vancouver, British Columbia for a while, and enjoyed watching an urban crow scavenging on the patio of a busy down town eatery. This place, to me, is infused with magic:  the old growth urban temperate rain forest called Stanley Park, the large birds of prey patrolling above the down town high rises, the laid back diverse populace.
What makes magic in our lives? Seems to me intact  biodiverse wilderness, that is, the undamaged biosphere, is the most potent magic. What do people with abundant wealth often use it to attain. Richard Branson has his island in the Indian Ocean; the queen her estate in the Scottish highlands; Ted Turner his ranch in Montana. They use their wealth to get what early man was immersed in, what would re-establish itself all around us if we reversed our addiction to growth and stopped ' getting and spending for a while.

Friday, January 04, 2013

Realistic monopoly game

Distribute money before game starts by dice throw per actual wealth distribution, and see how much fun it is when one player has 95% from the get go.