Posts tagged Subway at Switched

Posts with tag subway

Subway Sleeping Mask Lets Other Passengers Know When to Wake You

by Paul Miller, posted Oct 21st 2008 at 12:02PM

We've accomplished many an hour of restful, mugger-prone napping on the subway, but there's always the danger of missing your stop -- a problem we're usually too drowsy to consider at 2am in the morning. Not clever hacker Pyocotan, however. This resourceful fellow has built the Noriko-san sleeping mask for fashion-forward commuters, which broadcasts your destination to fellow passengers on a garish LED display, while you're busy getting some shut-eye underneath the mask -- in the hope that they'll be kind enough to wake you up at the right stop after they've rid you of your iPod and wallet.

With a cost of $200 in parts, and considerable impracticality to boot, this device isn't quite ready for the commercial sphere, but that's of little concern to Pyocotan -- he's just busy being awesome. Video is after the break. [Via Make]

Continue reading Subway Sleeping Mask Lets Other Passengers Know When to Wake You

Man Jumps Onto Subway Tracks for His iPhone

by Tim Stevens, posted Jan 3rd 2008 at 10:01AM

We've posted many, many stories about the iPhone that have likely inspired much technolust in all of you Apple fans out there. That said, we've also posted a number of stories about people killed by their phones, and we're planning on posting more, 'cause they just keep coming.

The latest killer-mobile story involves a man who lost his life while trying to retrieve a dropped iPhone. Bijan Rezvani apparently has only been reading the former type of story, and none of the latter, as he risked his life by jumping onto a live NYC subway track to retrieve a dropped iPhone.

That's right, Rezvani, a tourist visiting NYC, apparently dropped his iPhone onto the tracks while snapping some pictures. Rezvani leapt onto the rails and retrieved his iPhone. He somehow managed to get back up onto the subway platform before either he or his iPhone were crushed. This is the exact same stunt a woman attempted in 2004, but with far more tragic results.

Such stupidity/bravery, of course, inspires thoughts of just what any of us might jump onto train tracks for. In a quick poll among Switched bloggers we came up with a few things we'd think about making the leap for, including a wayward puppy, a passport and cash. [Laptop magazine, which published an interview with Rezvani, also offers up this longer list of jump-worthy gadgets.] Notably, none of those things was a gadget of any sort.

From Gothamist and Laptop.

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NYC Hopes to Launch Subway Text Message Alert System

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Nov 7th 2007 at 2:32PM

The New York State Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is looking for a vendor to put together what may end up being the largest text message and e-mail alert system in the country. The MTA said that, following massive flooding of the NYC subway tunnels on August 8th, the need for such a system became clear.

The alerts will inform passengers about construction, train re-routing, and unplanned disruptions such as those from fire and flooding. The system is expected to draw up to a million subscribers.

Commuter rail lines, such as Metro North, have an alert system, but it can take as much as an hour for the messages to be sent out. The MTA plans to fold the commuter lines into the new system which they say will be much more timely.

Currently, subway passengers can subscribe to an e-mail list for planned disruptions, but are forced to rely on announcements made over station and train PA systems for up-to-the-minute updates regarding unexpected interruptions. As any subway passenger knows, such announcement are usually completely incomprehensible.

From Textually.org

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Cell Phones in Subways: Not For 911

by Tim Stevens, posted Oct 15th 2007 at 12:28PM

Last month, we reported that New York City's subway system was being wired to bring cell phone reception to its subterranean stations. Besides bringing the conveniences of e-mail and voice to this otherwise uncharted territory, many New Yorkers felt a sense of relief that emergency calls from underground would now be possible. However, it seems that's not exactly what the Metropolitan Transit Authority had in mind with last month's announcement. In fact, by the sounds of recent statements made by the MTA, an emergency is the last time it would want people to reach for their mobiles.

MTA officials have indicated that during an emergency, all travelers should give their undivided attention to MTA employees -- not to their handsets. Additionally, the MTA fears that hundreds of panicked travelers simultaneously calling 911 to report the same emergency could flood phone lines unnecessarily if the emergency has already been reported. We saw similar outages occur during Hurricane Katrina and the Minneapolis bridge collapse, so this concern isn't completely without merit.

Another concern raised by the MTA about cell phones in stations is much more ominous. According to MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin speaking to the Daily News, a cell phone may serve as an "accidental detonator during such an [emergency] incident." Though Soffin, somewhat oddly, doesn't elaborate on this statement, he seems to be suggesting that during an underground emergency, a flurry of cell phone activity could potentially set off a device that just happens to be there waiting to go off, but has nothing to do with the current emergency.

Are we then to believe that there are any number of explosive devices out there in New York's underground that the MTA doesn't know about?

From textually.org and Daily News

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Camera Phone Nabs Perv on NYC Subway

by Evan Shamoon, posted Aug 23rd 2007 at 9:21AM

In New York City, a subway pervert has been nailed thanks to a camera phone – unfortunately, this story has nothing to do with Subway's Jared Fogel or those recent allegations that he was the porno king of his college.

No, this scum goes by the name of Jay Arungah. He's accused of exposing himself and molesting a 30-year-old woman on New York's B and Q subway lines. According to the victim, Arungah stared at her before exposing himself and lighting a cigarette. When she moved, Arungah followed. When the victim tried to escape at the next station, he pressed himself against her.

When the woman was finally able to escape the train, Arungah followed her. She reached a phone and dialed 911, but not before pulling out her camera phone and snapping a photo of Arungah. When police arrived, Arungah was arrested.

While the victim in this case chose to share the photo of her assailant with police, a site we recently reported on allows women to share similar photos with the entire Internet. HollaBackNYC is a site where women can snap camera phone shots of pervs making cat calls or inappropriate gestures, and then upload and blog about them (location, what was said, etc.).

And, as if perverts in New York didn't have it hard enough already with HollaBack, city councilman Peter Vallone Jr has just introduced a so called 'Peeping Tom Law' that would make leering sexually at another person a crime punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. Vallone introduced the legislation after several female constituents complained of a man standing under the stairwell at a particular subway station each morning to catch peeks up skirts.

From Gothamist

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