Signs for invading armies
Lee Ayrton
A golden oldie, vectored by a Providence RI area radio personality*:
"There are bar codes and holograms on US highway signs designed to aid
commanders of foreign armies in navigating the US. This, of course,
raises the question of _why_ we would be aiding -- or even need --
invading foreign armies."
Apparently, the terms "inventory stickers" or "road atlas" don't appear in
his vocabulary. Or, even, "hire Canadian guides".
* Is there a DSM-III entry for "radio personality"? I'm thinking it
should be in the section that covers "borderline personality disorder".
Jared
>
> "There are bar codes and holograms on US highway signs designed to aid
> commanders of foreign armies in navigating the US. This, of course,
> raises the question of _why_ we would be aiding -- or even need --
> invading foreign armies."
I guess depends on whether you define the UN as an invading army. I'm
confused on quite how this system would work. Does the tank driver
have to roll down his window and lean out to run his barcode scanner
over the road sign? Wouldn't it be faster and easier in a combat
situation to, you know, just read the big writing and follow the
arrow?
Jared "has a Tom Tom in his black helicopter" Head
BrunoN Bluthgeld
>
> A golden oldie, vectored by a Providence RI area radio personality*:
>
> "There are bar codes and holograms on US highway signs designed to aid
> commanders of foreign armies in navigating the US. This, of course,
> raises the question of _why_ we would be aiding -- or even need --
> invading foreign armies."
>
> Apparently, the terms "inventory stickers" or "road atlas" don't appear in
> his vocabulary. Or, even, "hire Canadian guides".
>
Well there's still time to alter these hidden signs and catch every
potential invader in an infinite loop on the nearest roundabout.
D.F. Manno
<dd11ab66-4d28-44d4...@u16g2000pru.googlegroups.com>,
Jared <bi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Obviously the codes are designed to help invading foreign _robot_ armies.
--
D.F. Manno | dfm...@mail.com
"Faith is a cop-out. If the only way you can accept an assertion is by
faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits."
(Dan Barker, former preacher, musician, b. 1949)
R H Draney
This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
--
A pessimist sees the glass as half empty.
An optometrist asks whether you see the glass
more full like this?...or like this?
Pete Wilcox
> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>
"This" is usenet - and TWIVBP. Here in UKoGBaNIland, we got roundabouts
coming outa tha wazzoo. Seems our good urban-planning burgermeisters have
replaced every available T-junction with a roundabout, regardless of the
logistics or other consequences. Just don't get me started on
speed-bumps. "Traffic-calming???" BLEARGGGHHH!!!
Pete "passenger-rage" Wilcox
Mike Williams
>Here in UKoGBaNIland, we got roundabouts coming outa tha wazzoo. Seems
>our good urban-planning burgermeisters have replaced every available
>T-junction with a roundabout, regardless of the logistics or other
>consequences.
We recently got these weird double mini-roundabouts near where I live.
http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=53.8254,-3.0203&t=k&z=19
The really weird thing is the arrows between the two roundabouts.
There's no route that would cause anyone to want to drive between the
roundabouts. All right turns go round the outside of both. The only
possible use for those arrows would be for making a 360 degree turn out
of the hospital, or out of Grange Road and going back the way you came.
--
Mike Williams
Gentleman of Leisure
R H Draney
Wait'll they hit you with "chicanes"....
R H "I take 'em at about 40mph in a single smooth arc" Draney
BrunoN Bluthgeld
>>>
>> Well there's still time to alter these hidden signs and catch every
>> potential invader in an infinite loop on the nearest roundabout.
>
> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
Ok then, let's send them towards some Canadian roundaboots then.
ra...@vt.edu
> We recently got these weird double mini-roundabouts near where I live.
> http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=53.8254,-3.0203&t=k&z=19
> The really weird thing is the arrows between the two roundabouts.
> There's no route that would cause anyone to want to drive between the
> roundabouts. All right turns go round the outside of both. The only
> possible use for those arrows would be for making a 360 degree turn out
> of the hospital, or out of Grange Road and going back the way you came.
Well, that's one of the features I liked about the roundabouts when
I was first living in France and not sure where I was going. I could
always just go around the roundabout and go back the way I came if
I decided I'd gone off the wrong way. Or, circle for a while deciding
which way to go . . . ;-)
Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.
Hatunen
You ain't seen anything if you ain't seen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/images/2007/10/22/msn_magic_roundabout_470x350.jpg
--
************* DAVE HATUNEN (hat...@cox.net) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
Charles Wm. Dimmick
> BrunoN Bluthgeld filted:
>> Lee Ayrton wrote:
>>> A golden oldie, vectored by a Providence RI area radio personality*:
>>>
>>> "There are bar codes and holograms on US highway signs designed to aid
>>> commanders of foreign armies in navigating the US. This, of course,
>>> raises the question of _why_ we would be aiding -- or even need --
>>> invading foreign armies."
>>>
>>> Apparently, the terms "inventory stickers" or "road atlas" don't appear in
>>> his vocabulary. Or, even, "hire Canadian guides".
>>>
>> Well there's still time to alter these hidden signs and catch every
>> potential invader in an infinite loop on the nearest roundabout.
>
> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand Junction,
Colorado.
David DeLaney
>>> potential invader in an infinite loop on the nearest roundabout.
>>
>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>
>Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand Junction,
>Colorado.
And Cleveland, Ohio.
Sorry, Tennessee!
Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
Strobe
>BrunoN Bluthgeld filted:
>>
>>Lee Ayrton wrote:
>>>
>>> A golden oldie, vectored by a Providence RI area radio personality*:
>>>
>>> "There are bar codes and holograms on US highway signs designed to aid
>>> commanders of foreign armies in navigating the US. This, of course,
>>> raises the question of _why_ we would be aiding -- or even need --
>>> invading foreign armies."
>>>
>>> Apparently, the terms "inventory stickers" or "road atlas" don't appear in
>>> his vocabulary. Or, even, "hire Canadian guides".
Heh! The plan is working, no one suspects that these codes give the secret
directions to the nearest Piggly Wiggly, black helicopter hangar or Dairy Queen
>>Well there's still time to alter these hidden signs and catch every
>>potential invader in an infinite loop on the nearest roundabout.
>
>This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
Ah, but you do got 'rotaries' and 'traffic circles'...
Winnie was right - 2 countries can be divided by a common language.
BTW, do the believers in these secret codes also believe that when US forces
invade a foreign country always rely entirely on local signposts - that they
never have maps of their own, written in American?
Keith F. Lynch
> We recently got these weird double mini-roundabouts near where I live.
> http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=53.8254,-3.0203&t=k&z=19
> The really weird thing is the arrows between the two roundabouts.
> There's no route that would cause anyone to want to drive between
> the roundabouts. All right turns go round the outside of both. The
> only possible use for those arrows would be for making a 360 degree
> turn out of the hospital, or out of Grange Road and going back the
> way you came.
That reminds me of the Rosslyn Paradox. No matter which way you
transfer between subway lines at the Rosslyn (Virginia) station,
you'll go downstairs, never upstairs. Nobody ever goes upstairs
from the lower level unless they're leaving the station.
(There are transfers you can make by going upstairs, but, as with
those roundabouts, they're not transfers any sensible person would
ever make, as they'd either take you right back the way you came or
take you where you would have gone had you remained on the train you
were on instead of transferring.)
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.
Keith F. Lynch
There are plenty of traffic circles in Washington DC.
They were originally intended as cannon emplacements. The centers of
the circles have sight lines down all the major roads. Unfortunately,
the one time this would have been useful the defenders all fled the
city, leaving it to be sacked by the cruel and barbarous British.
They're now used mostly as the sites of statues.
David Scheidt
:There are plenty of traffic circles in Washington DC.
Which, with or without optional artillery, aren't roundabouts.
--
sig 122
Mike Yetto
Of course we use the bar-codes on the signposts. You don't
expect a tank to pull over and *ask* *directions* do you?
Mike "in .2 miles turn right and fire" Yetto
--
In theory, theory and practice are the same.
In practice they are not.
John Francis
Of course not. They are, after all, driven by men.
R H Draney
>
>R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>
>There are plenty of traffic circles in Washington DC.
>
>They were originally intended as cannon emplacements. The centers of
>the circles have sight lines down all the major roads. Unfortunately,
>the one time this would have been useful the defenders all fled the
>city, leaving it to be sacked by the cruel and barbarous British.
>
>They're now used mostly as the sites of statues.
Things that never move...that's the proper use for such things....
("To go left, turn right"...what genius came up with *that* idea?)...r
A [Temporary] Dog
DeLaney) painted a red bull's eye on his forehead, ascended the altar
of Fluffy and shouted:
>Charles Wm. Dimmick <cdim...@snet.net> wrote:
>>R H Draney wrote:
>>> BrunoN Bluthgeld filted:
>>>> Well there's still time to alter these hidden signs and catch every
>>>> potential invader in an infinite loop on the nearest roundabout.
>>>
>>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>>
>>Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand Junction,
>>Colorado.
>
>And Cleveland, Ohio.
And Maryland
>Sorry, Tennessee!
--
- A (Temporary) Dog |"[W]hy don't admins let people settle
"Dog of Disinformation" | things like adults. Frankly, I'm not
The Domain is nym huah | sure I wanted to equipt my users with
The Name is tempdog | AK-47s and napalm".
Put together as name@domain | - Rebecca Ore
Richard Casady
wrote:
>I guess depends on whether you define the UN as an invading army. I'm
>confused on quite how this system would work. Does the tank driver
>have to roll down his window and lean out to run his barcode scanner
>over the road sign? Wouldn't it be faster and easier in a combat
>situation to, you know, just read the big writing and follow the
>arrow?
They have been reading barcodes on moving railroad cars for decades.
Casady
Richard Casady
During WWII the Soviets had a mother and daughters tank crew.
Casady
David Scheidt
:On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 15:52:45 -0700 (PDT), Jared <bi...@hotmail.com>
:wrote:
You mean "read barcodes for a decade, decades ago." US railroads gave up
on barcodes in the seventies. They simply didn't work. It wasn't that
they couldn't be read. It was that they couldn't be read enough, after
they got dirty or spray painted. Read rates weren't high enough to
eliminate the need for humans to go look at the numbers on the side of
a car. US rail has used a RFID system since the mid 90s. (Called
automatice equipment identification, or AEI, if you care to google.)
--
sig 99
Warren Oates
"Charles Wm. Dimmick" <cdim...@snet.net> wrote:
> Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand Junction,
> Colorado.
Augusta, Me.
--
Suddenly he realized that he was alone
with a giant halfwit on a dark deserted street.
-- Chester Himes
Warren Oates
Strobe <Str...@nyc.Beep!Beep!.com> wrote:
> Ah, but you do got 'rotaries' and 'traffic circles'...
> Winnie was right - 2 countries can be divided by a common language.
A traffic circle isn't a roundabout (in Ontario at least). In the
former, incoming traffic has the right of way; in the latter, traffic
already in the roundabout has the right of way.
Warren "Jack Daniels isn't bourbon (anywhere)" Oates.
Richard Casady
<warren...@gmail.com> wrote:
>In article <r5fce5h4btrbtt9pj...@4ax.com>,
> Strobe <Str...@nyc.Beep!Beep!.com> wrote:
>
>> Ah, but you do got 'rotaries' and 'traffic circles'...
>> Winnie was right - 2 countries can be divided by a common language.
>
>A traffic circle isn't a roundabout (in Ontario at least). In the
>former, incoming traffic has the right of way; in the latter, traffic
>already in the roundabout has the right of way.
>
>Warren "Jack Daniels isn't bourbon (anywhere)" Oates.
Especially not in Bourbon County, Ky, which is dry.
Casady
Tim McDaniel
Warren Oates <warren...@gmail.com> wrote:
>In article <hc5cvo$vbk$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> "Charles Wm. Dimmick" <cdim...@snet.net> wrote:
>
>> Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand
>> Junction, Colorado.
>
>Augusta, Me.
I've seen a couple in Texas, and Fairfax Circle in Virginia is pretty
major. I didn't know that anyone drew a distinction between "traffic
circles" and "roundabouts". I don't remember the signage, but I'm
pretty sure that the traffic in the circle had the right-of-way over
traffic entering.
--
Tim McDaniel, tm...@panix.com
David Scheidt
:In article <0062cc69$0$23453$c3e...@news.astraweb.com>,
Traffic engineering geeks do. We've had this discussion before.
--
sig 123
Hatunen
It used to be. Not any more.
http://shipcompliantblog.com/blog/2007/02/11/bourbon-county-ky-wet-dry-or-moist/
The gag was that Christian county was wet.
Dave "Kentucky Colonel" Hatunen
Mojohan
>
> ("To go left, turn right"...what genius came up with *that* idea?)...r
>
This bit of genius comes from Los Angeles city of few left turn
arrows, fewer left turn lanes. In order to not have to wait thru four
signal changes, one car turning left at each signal change. It is much
quicker and safer to make three right hand turns because one may turn
right on a red light or green light. If you're sitting at an
intersection when the light turns green never enter the intersection
without looking left and right because some uninsured motorist is most
likely running the red light. Red light cameras can only send out
tickets to the last registered owner of the vehicle and that is not
who's driving.
Mojo 'learned the hard way' Han
Ray
> Red light cameras can only send out
> tickets to the last registered owner of the vehicle and that is not
> who's driving.
There was a case in Cleveland not long ago where a lawyer got two
tickets from speed cameras. He argued that the ticket had to be paid
by the owner of the car, and since he leased the car he wasn't the
owner and couldn't be fined. The law was changed posthaste.
http://tinyurl.com/yg3bhqq
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yg3bhqq
--
Ray
(remove the Xs to reply)
R H Draney
I prefer the defense that the driver of the car wasn't of the same species as
the owner:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/09/08/20090908dpsmonkey0908.html
....r
Mike Yetto
> In article <hc5cvo$vbk$1...@news.eternal-september.org>,
> "Charles Wm. Dimmick" <cdim...@snet.net> wrote:
>
>> Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand Junction,
>> Colorado.
>
> Augusta, Me.
They've become quite popular in Saratoga County, NY the last few
years.
Mike "for various values of popular" Yetto
Charles Wm. Dimmick
> Of course we use the bar-codes on the signposts. You don't
> expect a tank to pull over and *ask* *directions* do you?
>
> Mike "in .2 miles turn right and fire" Yetto
Reminds me of the Sarajevo biathlon:
Ski 10 km and shoot an Austrian prince.
Charles
Charles Wm. Dimmick
> Richard Casady <richar...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> :They have been reading barcodes on moving railroad cars for decades.
>
> You mean "read barcodes for a decade, decades ago." US railroads gave up
> on barcodes in the seventies. They simply didn't work. It wasn't that
> they couldn't be read. It was that they couldn't be read enough, after
> they got dirty or spray painted. Read rates weren't high enough to
> eliminate the need for humans to go look at the numbers on the side of
> a car. US rail has used a RFID system since the mid 90s. (Called
> automatice equipment identification, or AEI, if you care to google.)
Ah hah! that explains why I saw no bar codes on the thousands of freight
cars we passed [or were passed by] on our recent trip to and from Grand
Junction. I remember when almost every freight car had them.
Charles
Lon
Grand Junction? Feh, nothing compared to the yuppie tree hugging,
mountain lion kissing, folks of Boulder. Or, the zanier folk in
Nederland, which isnt much bigger than the town roundabout.
Lon
> In article <r5fce5h4btrbtt9pj...@4ax.com>,
> Strobe <Str...@nyc.Beep!Beep!.com> wrote:
>
>> Ah, but you do got 'rotaries' and 'traffic circles'...
>> Winnie was right - 2 countries can be divided by a common language.
>
> A traffic circle isn't a roundabout (in Ontario at least). In the
> former, incoming traffic has the right of way; in the latter, traffic
> already in the roundabout has the right of way.
>
> Warren "Jack Daniels isn't bourbon (anywhere)" Oates.
More fun are the multi-laned circles, like the huge one in downtown
Seoul, best navigated in a black, not white, cab.
Lon
> Keith F. Lynch filted:
>> R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>> There are plenty of traffic circles in Washington DC.
>>
>> They were originally intended as cannon emplacements. The centers of
>> the circles have sight lines down all the major roads. Unfortunately,
>> the one time this would have been useful the defenders all fled the
>> city, leaving it to be sacked by the cruel and barbarous British.
>>
>> They're now used mostly as the sites of statues.
>
> Things that never move...that's the proper use for such things....
>
> ("To go left, turn right"...what genius came up with *that* idea?)...r
UPS?
Keith F. Lynch
> Or, the zanier folk in Nederland, which isnt much bigger than the
> town roundabout.
It's the site of the annual Frozen Dead Guy Days. What's not to like?
Keith F. Lynch
> There was a case in Cleveland not long ago where a lawyer got two
> tickets from speed cameras. He argued that the ticket had to be
> paid by the owner of the car, and since he leased the car he wasn't
> the owner and couldn't be fined.
So they jailed him for reckless driving instead, seized and sold his
car, and permanently revoked his license?
Keith F. Lynch
> If you're sitting at an intersection when the light turns green
> never enter the intersection without looking left and right because
> some uninsured motorist is most likely running the red light.
An even better reason to look both ways is that a pedestrian may be
crossing in front of you. Several times when I've had the walk light
I've been hit by some idiot who was turning right while looking left.
It's always been at low speed, so I wasn't seriously hurt. I go up
on their hood, and when they turn around they see my face inches from
theirs. Unfortunately, this has never given the bad driver a fatal
heart attack.
If it was an SUV rather than a car, I fear that I would go under, not
over. And being run over slowly isn't much preferable to being run
over quickly.
Keith F. Lynch
> During WWII the Soviets had a mother and daughters tank crew.
Is that where "take your daughter to work day" originated?
Ralph Jones
wrote:
How does that compare to the Place de l'Etoile?
rj
Richard Casady
wrote:
>Feh, nothing compared to the yuppie tree hugging,
>mountain lion kissing, folks of Boulder.
True. However, Soldier of Fortune magazine is published there.
Casady
Strobe
wrote:
>Mike Williams <nos...@econym.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>> We recently got these weird double mini-roundabouts near where I live.
>
>> http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=53.8254,-3.0203&t=k&z=19
>
>> The really weird thing is the arrows between the two roundabouts.
>> There's no route that would cause anyone to want to drive between
>> the roundabouts. All right turns go round the outside of both. The
>> only possible use for those arrows would be for making a 360 degree
>> turn out of the hospital, or out of Grange Road and going back the
>> way you came.
>
>That reminds me of the Rosslyn Paradox. No matter which way you
>transfer between subway lines at the Rosslyn (Virginia) station,
>you'll go downstairs, never upstairs. Nobody ever goes upstairs
>from the lower level unless they're leaving the station.
Now that's how a GOOD engineer designs things.
There's a similar station on the NY subway on my old commute where changing
trains both morning and evening was to a lower level.
Of course, there's also another station where ANY change involves going up and
down stairs AND trekking through miles of passages. . .
Strobe
>In article <r5fce5h4btrbtt9pj...@4ax.com>,
> Strobe <Str...@nyc.Beep!Beep!.com> wrote:
>
>> Ah, but you do got 'rotaries' and 'traffic circles'...
>> Winnie was right - 2 countries can be divided by a common language.
>
>A traffic circle isn't a roundabout (in Ontario at least). In the
>former, incoming traffic has the right of way; in the latter, traffic
>already in the roundabout has the right of way.
Okay, I was wrong - make that 3 countries.
R H Draney
>
>Lon <lon.s...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Or, the zanier folk in Nederland, which isnt much bigger than the
>> town roundabout.
>
>It's the site of the annual Frozen Dead Guy Days. What's not to like?
It's also where Elton John recorded his last three studio albums before
dissolving his exclusive songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin...(along
about the same time, Chicago did a TV special from the same ranch, with guest
star Charlie Rich)....r
Thomas Prufer
>Now that's how a GOOD engineer designs things.
The Rosslyn engineer was M C Escher.
Thomas Prufer
Warren Oates
Strobe <Str...@nyc.Beep!Beep!.com> wrote:
> Okay, I was wrong - make that 3 countries.
Just so you know I'm citing official (as they get here) sources:
http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/engineering/roundabout/faq.shtml#4
Lon
It would be politically incorrect to comment on the driving styles of
societies. As a point of reference, in Korea, the white cabs will use
the sidewalk if the streets are busy. Is just a tad from the Westin
Chosun. Doesnt have the massive number of streets spoking out, just
slightly off kilter drivers.
Lon
> Lon <lon.s...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> Or, the zanier folk in Nederland, which isnt much bigger than the
>> town roundabout.
>
> It's the site of the annual Frozen Dead Guy Days. What's not to like?
Also the site of the former Caribou Studio and the current residence of
Kitaro
... and a few off-kilter acquaintances
Keith F. Lynch
> As a point of reference, in Korea,
North or South?
> the white cabs will use the sidewalk if the streets are busy.
What if pedestrians don't get out of the way? Will the cabs run
them over? If so, will the driver get in any kind of trouble?
Keith F. Lynch
> Strobe <Str...@nyc.Beep!Beep!.com> wrote:
>> Now that's how a GOOD engineer designs things.
> The Rosslyn engineer was M C Escher.
No, the layout of that station is very simply and straightforward.
To see Escher's work, you have to go a few miles southwest, to the
notorious Springfield Interchange, aka the Mixing Bowl, aka the
Billion Dollar Crossroads. Escher worked with H.P. Lovecraft in
designing that non-Euclidean horror.
Keith F. Lynch
> There's a similar station on the NY subway on my old commute where
> changing trains both morning and evening was to a lower level.
> Of course, there's also another station where ANY change involves
> going up and down stairs AND trekking through miles of passages. . .
I wish the DC Metro had such stations. There are two places where
stations are very close but there's no connection between them. You
have to take trains miles out of your way to transfer between them.
Either that or exit one station and enter the other, paying two fares
instead of one. Pedestrian tunnels joining them have been on the
drawing boards for decades.
I'd be satisfied with a "software tunnel" i.e. if you exit one station
then immediately enter the other, it should be treated as part of the
same trip.
Actually, I'd be satisfied with the fares and level of service of five
years ago. The former has gone way up and the latter has gone way down.
Strobe
>In article <5odfe55hfi626qeuf...@4ax.com>,
> Strobe <Str...@nyc.Beep!Beep!.com> wrote:
>
>> Okay, I was wrong - make that 3 countries.
>
>Just so you know I'm citing official (as they get here) sources:
>
>http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/engineering/roundabout/faq.shtml#4
I never doubted you.
Even governments can get confused.
Make that *especially* governments - they also specialise in confusing everyone
else.
Lee Ayrton
Did any of those circular airstrips touted in the 1960s by Popular Science
(Laznerian, both claims) as the Thing Of The Future ever get built? The
idea, for the imagination-impared, was that some stretch of the runway
would always be facing the wind.
Lee Ayrton
> R H Draney wrote:
>> BrunoN Bluthgeld filted:
>>> Lee Ayrton wrote:
>>>> A golden oldie, vectored by a Providence RI area radio personality*:
>>>>
>>>> "There are bar codes and holograms on US highway signs designed to aid
>>>> commanders of foreign armies in navigating the US. This, of course,
>>>> raises the question of _why_ we would be aiding -- or even need --
>>>> invading foreign armies."
>>>>
>>>> Apparently, the terms "inventory stickers" or "road atlas" don't appear in
>>>> his vocabulary. Or, even, "hire Canadian guides".
>>>>
>>> Well there's still time to alter these hidden signs and catch every
>>> potential invader in an infinite loop on the nearest roundabout.
>>
>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>
> Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand Junction,
> Colorado.
Boy howdy, _especially_ in Massachusetts. There's one in Danvers that
forms an interchange on I-95 that is easily a mile circuit.
Lee "Traffic oval, really" ayrton
Lee Ayrton
> In article <slrn200910262241...@may.eternal-september.org>,
> Mike Yetto <mye...@nycap.invalid> wrote:
>>Of course we use the bar-codes on the signposts. You don't
>>expect a tank to pull over and *ask* *directions* do you?
>
> Of course not. They are, after all, driven by men.
Dammit. You beat me to it.
Lee Ayrton
>
>>
>> ("To go left, turn right"...what genius came up with *that* idea?)...r
>>
>
> This bit of genius comes from Los Angeles city of few left turn
> arrows, fewer left turn lanes. In order to not have to wait thru four
That would be because General Motors secretly bought all the companies
making left turn arrows and deliberately ran them into bankruptcy. the
plan was that all the extra blocks traveled would make cars wear out
quicker and increase GM's sales.
[snipt]
> tickets to the last registered owner of the vehicle and that is not
> who's driving.
In the news recently was a Phoenix-area motorist who objected strongly
to photo enforcement of speeding laws that he took to deliberately
triggering the cameras -- while wearing one or another of a variety of
masks (a gorilla mask comes to possibly-faulty memory). His claim was
that since the operator of the vehicle could not be identified the state
couldn't enforce the ticket. He was eventually caught with the masks in
his car.
Lee Ayrton
> R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>
> There are plenty of traffic circles in Washington DC.
>
> They were originally intended as cannon emplacements. The centers of
> the circles have sight lines down all the major roads. Unfortunately,
> the one time this would have been useful the defenders all fled the
> city, leaving it to be sacked by the cruel and barbarous British.
I recently heard the same rational from a cow orker, although the setting
was Paris and other Urprean locations. The icing was that it allowed the
military to control, with minor expenditure of resources, avenues of
advance for invading armies /or/ rioting peasants with equal ease.
Is there truth to this story, or was the design more about transportation
for commerce and grandure of public spaces (cf the lust of US cities for
grand bridges)?
Lee Ayrton
> On Mon, 26 Oct 2009, R H Draney wrote:
>
>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>>
> "This" is usenet - and TWIVBP. Here in UKoGBaNIland, we got roundabouts
> coming outa tha wazzoo. Seems our good urban-planning burgermeisters have
> replaced every available T-junction with a roundabout, regardless of the
> logistics or other consequences. Just don't get me started on
> speed-bumps. "Traffic-calming???" BLEARGGGHHH!!!
There was recent mention of high-tech speed bumps being worked on in
Mexico. Through some sort of mechanism the speed bump remains flat to the
road unless you are exceeding the speed limit, in which case it rises up
to smite thee.
If course, they wouldn't work in the US where we have a god-given right to
break the law.
Lee Ayrton
> In article <r5fce5h4btrbtt9pj...@4ax.com>,
> Strobe <Str...@nyc.Beep!Beep!.com> wrote:
>
>> Ah, but you do got 'rotaries' and 'traffic circles'...
>> Winnie was right - 2 countries can be divided by a common language.
>
> A traffic circle isn't a roundabout (in Ontario at least). In the
> former, incoming traffic has the right of way; in the latter, traffic
> already in the roundabout has the right of way.
It would seem that TWOCircularTrafficInterchangesIAVBP. "Roundabout"
isn't part of the USian popular vocabulary, although people will know what
you mean. The rotaries that I've experience in New England always give
the right of way to traffic in the rotary. It would seem to me that
giving incoming traffic the right of way would quickly result in gridlock.
John Francis
Richard Casady <richar...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>During WWII the Soviets had a mother and daughters tank crew.
Ah. Tanks for the mammaries?
David Scheidt
Of course it's insane to give incoming traffic the rigt of way is
insane. Why do you think they used so many of them in Massachuets and
New jersey?
--
sig 100
Nick Spalding
on Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:43:02 -0500:
The French rule that traffic coming from your right always had right of
way prevented them being used in France until around the 1970s when they
discovered the magic of the Yield sign and now there are thousands of
them.
--
Nick Spalding
Lee Ayrton
I'm sorry, but could you rephrase the preface and the question?
David Scheidt
I'm sorry, but I thought pleonasm was required and mandatory. How
about: traffic circles are for crazy people. Why do you think they
had so many in New Jersey and massachusetts?
--
sig 4
Keith F. Lynch
> There was recent mention of high-tech speed bumps being worked on in
> Mexico. Through some sort of mechanism the speed bump remains flat
> to the road unless you are exceeding the speed limit, in which case
> it rises up to smite thee.
Sounds sort of like a smaller version of the retractable bollards that
block unauthrorized car access to secure areas of DC.
Keith F. Lynch
> In the news recently was a Phoenix-area motorist who objected
> strongly to photo enforcement of speeding laws that he took to
> deliberately triggering the cameras -- while wearing one or another
> of a variety of masks (a gorilla mask comes to possibly-faulty
> memory). His claim was that since the operator of the vehicle could
> not be identified the state couldn't enforce the ticket. He was
> eventually caught with the masks in his car.
Here in Virginia, wearing a mask in public is not only a seperate
crime, it's a *felony*. See
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+18.2-422
(Yes, there's an exemption for Halloween.)
Keith F. Lynch
> Did any of those circular airstrips touted in the 1960s by Popular
> Science (Laznerian, both claims) as the Thing Of The Future ever get
> built? The idea, for the imagination-impared, was that some stretch
> of the runway would always be facing the wind.
How would you avoid runway conflicts? Only ever have one plane land
or take off at a time?
Donna Richoux
> It would seem that TWOCircularTrafficInterchangesIAVBP. "Roundabout"
> isn't part of the USian popular vocabulary, although people will know what
> you mean. The rotaries that I've experience in New England always give
> the right of way to traffic in the rotary.
*Now* they do, after some big fuss and changeover (late 1990s?), but
that wasn't the case when I lived in Boston in the 1980s. I distinctly
remember some big rotaries where a major road intersected one or more
minor roads; the accepted attitude was, the cars on the major road had
the right of way through the rotary -- for them it was just swerve
right, swerve left, continue -- and the others had to wait and take
their chances.
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
Lon
> Lee Ayrton <lay...@panix.com> wrote:
>> Did any of those circular airstrips touted in the 1960s by Popular
>> Science (Laznerian, both claims) as the Thing Of The Future ever get
>> built? The idea, for the imagination-impared, was that some stretch
>> of the runway would always be facing the wind.
>
> How would you avoid runway conflicts? Only ever have one plane land
> or take off at a time?
Have some land clockwise and the others land widdershins
R H Draney
>
>The French rule that traffic coming from your right always had right of
>way prevented them being used in France until around the 1970s when they
>discovered the magic of the Yield sign and now there are thousands of
>them.
ObInternetMeme: and the French word for "yield" would be...?
....r
--
A pessimist sees the glass as half empty.
An optometrist asks whether you see the glass
more full like this?...or like this?
Keith F. Lynch
And have planes going at high speed in opposite directions around
a circle? What could possibly go wrong?
Mike Yetto
You're talking about traffic in Boston. It's swerve right,
swerve left and take your chances for everyone.
Mike "especially the pedestrians" Yetto
--
In theory, theory and practice are the same.
In practice they are not.
Ralph Jones
<k...@KeithLynch.net> wrote:
>Lee Ayrton <lay...@panix.com> wrote:
>> There was recent mention of high-tech speed bumps being worked on in
>> Mexico. Through some sort of mechanism the speed bump remains flat
>> to the road unless you are exceeding the speed limit, in which case
>> it rises up to smite thee.
>
>Sounds sort of like a smaller version of the retractable bollards that
>block unauthrorized car access to secure areas of DC.
I've seen a few of those in Yurrup. One pair of them in Rouen has the
effect of making a certain street pedestrian-only except for certain
hours when delivery trucks are admitted.
rj
David DeLaney
>> Keith F. Lynch wrote:
>>> Lee Ayrton <lay...@panix.com> wrote:
>>>> Did any of those circular airstrips touted in the 1960s by Popular
>>>> Science (Laznerian, both claims) as the Thing Of The Future ever
>>>> get built? The idea, for the imagination-impared, was that some
>>>> stretch of the runway would always be facing the wind.
>
>>> How would you avoid runway conflicts? Only ever have one plane
>>> land or take off at a time?
>
>> Have some land clockwise and the others land widdershins
>
>And have planes going at high speed in opposite directions around
>a circle? What could possibly go wrong?
Why, we could discover entirely new particles!
Dave "and interesting byproducts" DeLaney
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
David DeLaney
>>The French rule that traffic coming from your right always had right of
>>way prevented them being used in France until around the 1970s when they
>>discovered the magic of the Yield sign and now there are thousands of
>>them.
>
>ObInternetMeme: and the French word for "yield" would be...?
you are alice
and i claim a liddell kitten
Dave "making this internetz meme literally Older Than Radio" DeLaney
Nick Spalding
on 1 Nov 2009 18:23:29 -0800:
> Nick Spalding filted:
> >
> >The French rule that traffic coming from your right always had right of
> >way prevented them being used in France until around the 1970s when they
> >discovered the magic of the Yield sign and now there are thousands of
> >them.
>
> ObInternetMeme: and the French word for "yield" would be...?
'Cedez le passage', written below the downward pointing red equilateral
triangle used generally in Europe with or without writing underneath.
<http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/Newsletters_and_Articles/article_france_roadsigns.htm>
<http://tinyurl.com/yf4bozr>
--
Nick Spalding
John Ritson
<lay...@panix.com> writes
Certainly the experience of troops being faced with barricades in Paris
was a factor in Baron Haussmann's transformation of Paris under
Napoleon III.
"The broad straight boulevards had political significance, for they made
the raising of barricades less practicable, and the charges of cavalry,
police and troops more effective."
--
John Ritson
Lon
> Nick Spalding filted:
>> The French rule that traffic coming from your right always had right of
>> way prevented them being used in France until around the 1970s when they
>> discovered the magic of the Yield sign and now there are thousands of
>> them.
>
> ObInternetMeme: and the French word for "yield" would be...?
Should we be presuming that a formal sign is something entirely separate
from the concept of gesture? Or, possibly should we be guessing as to
the slightly anthropomorphic icon used on the french version of a yield
sign?
Richard Casady
Ad absurdum per aspera
> "There are bar codes and holograms on US highway signs designed to aid
> commanders of foreign armies in navigating the US. "
A few years ago Alameda, California replaced its concrete street-
corner trash cans with the modern grey plastic jobbies that can be
emptied into a truck with a hydraulic grabber. A few weeks later,
someone from the city came along and serial-numbered them with a
white marker, in numbers about four inches high.
At least I assume it was someone from the city. Could have been a
grafitti "tagger" with a florid obsessive-compulsive disorder and
unusually good penmanship, I suppose.
--Joe "Or really small space aliens marking landing zones for the
invasion fleet" Chew
Don Freeman
> In <hc5cvo$vbk$1...@news.eternal-september.org>, on Mon, 26 Oct 2009
>> Colorado.
>
> So far nobody's mentioned NH and VT.
>
Nor California: Dewey @ Kensington @ Taraval @ Montalvo; San Francisco.
--
-Don
Keith F. Lynch
> Steve Ackman wrote:
>> Charles Wm. Dimmick, cdim...@snet.net wrote:
>>> R H Draney wrote:
>>>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>>> Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand
>>> Junction, Colorado.
>> So far nobody's mentioned NH and VT.
> Nor California: Dewey @ Kensington @ Taraval @ Montalvo;
> San Francisco.
Perhaps we should list places in the US that *don't* have roundabouts.
Keith F. Lynch
> A few years ago Alameda, California replaced its concrete street-
> corner trash cans with the modern grey plastic jobbies that can be
> emptied into a truck with a hydraulic grabber. A few weeks later,
> someone from the city came along and serial-numbered them with a
> white marker, in numbers about four inches high.
> At least I assume it was someone from the city. Could have been a
> grafitti "tagger" with a florid obsessive-compulsive disorder and
> unusually good penmanship, I suppose.
All the bus stops in the DC area have recently been numbered.
Supposedly this is so that you can look up when the next bus will
show up there, but today Metro's website said:
The NextBus system is not operational.
SmartBenefits are not functioning.
The e-alert system is not functioning.
http://wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=4132
As usual, they'd do better to list what *is* working.
A [Temporary] Dog
<k...@KeithLynch.net> painted a red bull's eye on his forehead,
ascended the altar of Fluffy and shouted:
>Don Freeman <free...@cosmoslair.com> wrote:
>> Steve Ackman wrote:
>>> Charles Wm. Dimmick, cdim...@snet.net wrote:
>>>> R H Draney wrote:
>>>>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>
>>>> Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand
>>>> Junction, Colorado.
>
>>> So far nobody's mentioned NH and VT.
>
>> Nor California: Dewey @ Kensington @ Taraval @ Montalvo;
>> San Francisco.
>
>Perhaps we should list places in the US that *don't* have roundabouts.
If I do donuts on someone's front lawn, have I created a roundabout?
--
-A (Temporary) Dog, Prophet of the Copybook Headings use
the domain that is nym hush with tempdog as a name for email
Trouble: The emperor models his new clothes and he's naked.
Real Trouble: The emperor models his new clothes and he's
wearing a miniskirt, heels, hose, and a halter top.
Don Freeman
> On Thu, 5 Nov 2009 03:47:31 +0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch"
> <k...@KeithLynch.net> painted a red bull's eye on his forehead,
> ascended the altar of Fluffy and shouted:
>
>> Don Freeman <free...@cosmoslair.com> wrote:
>>> Steve Ackman wrote:
>>>> Charles Wm. Dimmick, cdim...@snet.net wrote:
>>>>> R H Draney wrote:
>>>>>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>>>>> Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand
>>>>> Junction, Colorado.
>>>> So far nobody's mentioned NH and VT.
>>> Nor California: Dewey @ Kensington @ Taraval @ Montalvo;
>>> San Francisco.
>> Perhaps we should list places in the US that *don't* have roundabouts.
>
> If I do donuts on someone's front lawn, have I created a roundabout?
>
A roundabout when?
--
-Don
JoAnne Schmitz
wrote:
>On 26 Oct 2009 19:52:07 GMT, Juergen Nieveler
><juergen.nie...@arcor.de> wrote:
>
>>Jared <bi...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I guess depends on whether you define the UN as an invading army. I'm
>>> confused on quite how this system would work. Does the tank driver
>>> have to roll down his window and lean out to run his barcode scanner
>>> over the road sign? Wouldn't it be faster and easier in a combat
>>> situation to, you know, just read the big writing and follow the
>>> arrow?
>>
>>Got you there... of course the tank DOES have a barcode scanner, one
>>that even can scan the sign from a mile away. Oh, and tell you the
>>precise distance, too, or mark the target for laser-guided weapons.
>
>AND read the BACK of a sign??
All the roads will be changed to drive-on-left to better please our
Europeen overlords.
JoAnne "at 12:01am on 4/1/2012" Schmitz
--
The new Urban Legends website is <http://www.tafkac.org>
That's TAFKAC.ORG
Do not accept lame imitations at previously okay URLs
R H Draney
>
>On Thu, 5 Nov 2009 03:47:31 +0000 (UTC), "Keith F. Lynch"
><k...@KeithLynch.net> painted a red bull's eye on his forehead,
>ascended the altar of Fluffy and shouted:
>
>>Don Freeman <free...@cosmoslair.com> wrote:
>>> Steve Ackman wrote:
>>>> Charles Wm. Dimmick, cdim...@snet.net wrote:
>>>>> R H Draney wrote:
>>>>>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>>
>>>>> Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand
>>>>> Junction, Colorado.
>>
>>>> So far nobody's mentioned NH and VT.
>>
>>> Nor California: Dewey @ Kensington @ Taraval @ Montalvo;
>>> San Francisco.
>>
>>Perhaps we should list places in the US that *don't* have roundabouts.
>
>If I do donuts on someone's front lawn, have I created a roundabout?
Mmmm...donuts!
R H "grabbing the wrong end of the stick and beating around the bush with it"
Draney
Hatunen
>Don Freeman <free...@cosmoslair.com> wrote:
>> Steve Ackman wrote:
>>> Charles Wm. Dimmick, cdim...@snet.net wrote:
>>>> R H Draney wrote:
>>>>> This is America!...we don't *have* roundabouts!...r
>
>>>> Except in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Grand
>>>> Junction, Colorado.
>
>>> So far nobody's mentioned NH and VT.
>
>> Nor California: Dewey @ Kensington @ Taraval @ Montalvo;
>> San Francisco.
>
>Perhaps we should list places in the US that *don't* have roundabouts.
I think you may need to be sure tyhat they are, indeed,
roundabouts. When I first started driving I ran into a number of
what were then called "traffic circles". They had stop signs on
the entering roads (yield signs weren't seen much until a little
after that). I distinctly remember one on US422 between Warren OH
and Cleveland. And there was one near Latham NY making the
junction of NY2 and NY9; While I was at school in Troy I had a
good friend in Schenectady and found myself hitchhiking at the
Latham Circle.
You can Google Earth for Latham Circle NY. The circle is still
there, but since my days in the area Route 9 has been motorwayed
and now plunges under the circle.
--
************* DAVE HATUNEN (hat...@cox.net) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *
Keith F. Lynch
> JoAnne Schmitz <jsch...@qis.net> wrote:
>> All the roads will be changed to drive-on-left to better please our
>> Europeen overlords.
That's quite a change. We'd better ease into it gradually. Trucks on
the left in 2010, cars in 2011, motorcycles in 2012.
> Which of course tells you WHO those overlords really are. Either
> them, or the Japanese ;-)
New Zealand?