* Posts by El Commenter

2 publicly visible posts • joined 30 Nov 2013

100% driverless Wonka-wagon toy cars? Oh Google, you're having a laugh

El Commenter

grumpy old men

I'm kind of amazed by both the tone of the article and pretty much all of the responses. They're not talking about a world in which one or two of these cars weave their way around all of your ego-boxes. They're positing a traffic system in which all vehicles are automated like this - a real paradigm shift. The benefits of such an arrangement are many. Everyone who, for some reason, be it age, health, physical impairment, beer impairment, whatever, currently cannot operate a vehicle, will gain autonomy. With a smart routing system we could spread load around and make the most efficient use of the road network; efficient routing would mean we could travel at a lower average speed than we currently drive at, so such an arrangement would be safe(r) for pedestrians. Emergency vehicles could be given priority. Etc.

The tone of this article - a knowing weariness - is not uncommon for The Register, but in this case not overly smart.

Winner of Google's most wired Australian town award is...North Sydney?

El Commenter

Whilst it's true that North Sydney has, at all times of the day, a certain woebegotten hollowness to it, I can't pass up this opportunity to mention the North Sydney Book Exchange, an excellent second hand bookstore located down a few stairs on Mount St, next to a decent coffee place and a great Japanese restaurant. During the few years I worked there it was one of the very few places I discovered that has the "lived-in" feel of a real city.

As for the tech, well, who knows. I do know, speaking of tech, I always thought it should be connected to the rest of the city with one of those high speed moving walkways you might find in an Asimov novel. I can already picture Tom Cruise running across it with his arms pumping and an expression of steely determination as he races to Right Some Wrongs.